Facebook has ordered employees to keep all their emails and documents relating to its businesses since 2016 after government inquiries were opened into the under-fire social media firm’s operations.
A company-wide email sent on Tuesday night told staff to ‘preserve internal documents and communications since 2016’ in a move known as a ‘legal hold’.
Employees were told that encrypted messages should be kept and they should not discuss or post about the order on the company’s internal message board.
Documents related to WhatsApp, augmented reality studio Spark AR and the New Product Experimentation group, an internal incubator, were not included in the legal hold.
But WhatsApp messages relating to other topics have to be preserved, staff were told.
It comes following bombshell claims from former employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen that the tech giant ignored internal complaints from staff for years to put profits first, ‘lied’ to investors and shielded CEO Mark Zuckerberg from public scrutiny.
Facebook has ordered employees to keep all their emails and documents relating to its businesses since 2016
She claimed Facebook knowingly spread misinformation, fuelled hate speech, failed to crack down on abuses spread on the platform and exacerbated body image issues, particularly among teenage girls.
In the email sent to employees, obtained by the New York Times, Facebook said: ‘As you are probably aware, we’re currently the focus of extensive media coverage based on a swath of internal documents.
‘As is often the case following this kind of reporting, a number of inquiries from governments and legislative bodies have been launched into the company’s operations.’
Facebook acknowledged to shareholders this week it is facing ‘government investigations’ in relation to the leaked documents.
It is not known whether the inquiries refer to the US Senate or the UK Parliament.
Haugen filed her complaints this week to the Securities and Exchange Commission and has also testified in Congress and to British MPs on Monday. She also provided redacted versions to Congress.
It comes following bombshell claims from former employee turned whistleblower Frances Haugen that the tech giant ignored internal complaints from staff for years to put profits first (pictured outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Monday)
The SEC has not yet confirmed whether it has launched an investigation based …….