After government inquiries into the operations of the social media giant, Facebook has instructed employees to save all emails and documents related to its businesses.
In a move known to be a ‘legal lock’, a company-wide email was sent Tuesday night asking staff to “preserve internal communications and documents since 2016”.
The company instructed employees that encrypted messages must be kept and that they should not discuss or post about it on the company’s internal messaging board.
Documents relating to WhatsApp, augmented reality studio Spark AR, as well as the New Product Experimentation group, which is an internal incubator, were not included within the legal hold.
Staff were informed that WhatsApp messages on other topics must be kept confidential.
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 instructed employees to save all documents and emails relating to its businesses from 2016
She claimed that Facebook had knowingly spread misinformation and fuelled hate speech, failed in its duty to crack down on abuses on the platform, and exacerbated body issues, especially among teenage girls.
The email was sent to employees and was obtained by the New York Times. It stated that Facebook is currently the subject of extensive media coverage, based on a wide range of internal documents.
“As is the case often after this kind of reporting,” a number of inquiries from government and legislative bodies were launched into the company’s operations.
Facebook has acknowledged to shareholders that it is currently under investigation by the government in relation to the leaked documents.
It is unclear whether the inquiries are about the US Senate, or the UK Parliament.
Haugen submitted her complaints to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. She also testified in Congress and before British MPs Monday. She also provided redacted versions of her complaints to Congress.
It follows bombshell claims made by Frances Haugen (a former employee and whistleblower) that the tech giant ignored employees’ complaints for years to maximize profits. (Photo taken outside the Houses of Parliament Monday)
The SEC has not confirmed that it has launched an investigation into her complaints.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), however, has begun to examine the leaked internal research. It said it will closely examine if the company violated any agreements in the $5billion settlement with the agency in 2019.
Facebook reached a massive settlement to resolve its violation of privacy rules by working with Cambridge Analytica. This research firm bought the personal information of tens to millions of users without their consent.
According to Reuters, the company’s board had agreed to establish a privacy committee independent of Zuckerberg that would have ‘unfettered’ control over user privacy decisions. It also agreed to have greater oversight of third-party apps.
The settlement exempted Facebook and its top executives from any other consumer protection violations that were known to the FTC at that time. However, Democrats in the agency claimed the settlement was too weak or required a large fine.
Despite the Facebook deal, Haugen may be able to prove that Facebook has not changed much since the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
A Facebook spokesperson responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment on the FTC probe. He stated that they were always available to answer regulators’ questions, and would continue to cooperate with government inquiries.
Legislators from both sides of Atlantic have called for regulation of the company following the leaks.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), stated that the leaked documents show that Facebook bosses chronically ignored serious inner alarms, choosing profits over people’. He also claimed that the company is ‘obviously incompetent to police itself.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.N.Y.), called for a federal agency to protect personal information and ensure privacy
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.N.Y.), however, called for a federal agency to protect personal information and ensure privacy.
She wrote in an op-ed she wrote for NBC News: ‘The way companies like Facebook approach data is not motivated by protecting our privacy, but growing their profit.
She suggested that the proposed agency would examine data practices that are ‘highly risk’ and develop new rules for data privacy.
Legislation in the UK is being developed, and draft bills are expected to be introduced in early 2021 in order to establish independent digital regulation.
It comes after Facebook executives were accused of being ‘drunk on power’ in internal messages after they attempted to block messages of support for Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse.
Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he shot and killed 2 people in Kenosha (Wisconsin) on August 25, 2020. He was part a vigilante group that claimed they were protecting property against arson and rioting
After Jacob Blake’s shooting, a protester can be seen walking by a burning building.
Rittenhouse, a right wing vigilante, shot two Black Lives Matter protesters and killed them amid unrest following Jacob Blake’s August 2020 shooting.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time. Some on the right saw him as a hero, insisting that he was there to stop rioting by BLM activists.
Facebook took down many posts that were pro-Rittenhouse, arguing that they were against the site’s rules. These rules prohibit violence promotion.
Facebook’s rules prohibit praise or support for mass shooters, or mass shootings themselves.
During an internal meeting, most employees endorsed the decision.
One person said that Facebook leaders were too aggressive in censoring peoples’ beliefs.
The staffer claimed that the rioting was ongoing for over three years and is now an issue only because employees saw violence they didn’t like. This information was obtained from internal documents by The New York Post.
Rittenhouse was charged with murder. He will be seen Monday ahead of his trial which begins next week.
“Employees are drank on the absolute power to be in control of American civics without ever having visit a voting booth (if that is even possible).”
The employee, a Facebook data scientist, asked whether Facebook was correct in moderating posts in support Rittenhouse, who was 17 at Rittenhouse’s shooting. Rittenhouse is not legally allowed to own the firearms used in the shooting.
“Can we objectively and consistently distinguish between support (not allowed), and discussion of whether? [Rittenhouse]Is this being treated justly (allowed?)? The data scientist wrote.
“Try to read the posts that mention him and see if it is possible to distinguish violating content from non-violating.
“I know our company is full smart, dedicated people who want to do right by others.
“But, I don’t think the current system that we are working in allows us to succeed, even though we have the talent, money and motivation to get us on the right track.”
Rittenhouse has been accused of murder and his trial is set to begin next week.
Add to his woes, Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan has been sued over alleged homophobic and racist abuses inflicted upon two employees by their former household security boss. This is believed to have included a dig about Meghan Markle.
Mia King, a black LGBR woman who served as a security operations assistant, and a John Doe, a gay and disabled man who worked as a household operations manager, claimed they were subject to racist and homophobic abuse by the billionaire couple’s former head of security Liam Booth, Business Insider reports.
King claimed that Booth would call Booth ‘ghetto” and complain that Meghan Markle (bi-racial) ‘polluted’ the royal bloodline after her marriage with Prince Harry.
Doe also claimed Booth (an ex-Secret Service agent whose race is not disclosed) allegedly made constant remarks about his homosexuality, and slapped Doe’s groin in a sushi restaurant.
Pictured are Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla and Priscilla with their families
The couple operated a home-office operation through their California estate. Employees claimed that the home office was run in a pattern of discriminatory behavior.
Former head of security Liam Booth is accused of making a series of racist comments against black people. He directed such remarks at Meghan Mark, the wife of Prince Harry.
The lawsuit claims that other employees had witnessed Booth touching Doe’s genitals in Zuckerberg’s Montana property in the same year, and then imitating sex acts in front of him. While Zuckerberg and Chan have their main property in the Bay Area, they also own properties in Hawaii and Montana.
Booth, a former Secret Service Agent who served in President Barack Obama’s personal protection detail, has resigned from Zuckerberg’s family office in 2019. This was after an investigation into the allegations when Business Insider first reported them.
These claims have been refuted by Chan and Zuckerberg. Their personal spokesperson Ben LaBolt stated in a statement that no evidence was found in the company’s internal investigation.
‘As we stated in the past when these claims were anonymously disclosed to the media over two year ago, our family offices follows a strict code that requires appropriate behavior from all our employees. LaBolt stated that it is our expectation that all of our employees will adhere to this code.
“Any complaint to our HR personnel will be taken seriously and investigated. We are proud of our family office professionals and we are confident that claims to unfairly disparage them will be denied.
Booth has not made a statement about the allegations in the three-years since they first surfaced.
Doe’s boss Brian Mosteller and Monica Moorhouse (ex-human resources employee for family office) are also named in the suit.
DailyMail.com could not reach them immediately