A half-dozen nonprofit groups opposed to concentrated corporate power are seeking a congressional investigation into tech company employees encrypting or deleting internal messages to destroy evidence in antitrust cases.
“We are disturbed by recent reports that the tech giants have yet again been caught systematically deleting internal messages and chats tied to active federal investigations, thus concealing them from regulators and the courts,” the groups wrote in a letter to the top lawmakers on the Senate and House Judiciary committees dated Monday. They cite findings from a judge and accusations by the Federal Trade Commission that these practices are taking place.
“This behavior is not new, but it has grown steeply in recent years,” the groups wrote, calling on lawmakers to investigate the alleged practice “to safeguard the power of the federal government to enforce antitrust laws and regulations in good faith.”
