"As a result of this criminal act, Amazon's license to operate within the U.S. has been suspended until executives can provide the communications they were legally ordered to preserve," said an FTC spokesperson while smiling wryly in my fever dream where laws matter.
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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Why would the FTC even use Signal for communication?
Amazon employees were using signal to coordinate anticonsumer policies and then destroyed the records, which the FTC had ordered them to preserve. At least, that's how I read it.
So..... Throw them in jail? Make them accountable? Revoke the companies ability to do business till the records are provided?
Then again, that's just fantasy because the laws don't matter if you're Rick/big enough anymore.
I would like to non-sarcastically point you to my top level comment in this thread ❤️
The FTC didn't use Signal, Amazon did though for internal communications. When FTC started their investigation, Amazon quickly used the features of signal to delete all their internal communications because they were too spicy for the public and the FTC.
Oh... I somehow understood the article as if Amazon used Signal to communicate with the FTC... Yeah that makes more sense...
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Amazon used a secret algorithm to essentially help raise prices on other online sites and also “destroyed” internal communications as the Federal Trade Commission undertook an antitrust investigation against it, according to newly unredacted portions of the agency’s lawsuit.
The new excerpts unveiled Thursday allege executives at the e-commerce giant intentionally deleted communication by using a feature on the popular app Signal that makes messages disappear.
The FTC and 17 states sued Amazon in September alleging the company was abusing its position in the marketplace to inflate prices on and off its platform, overcharge sellers and stifle competition.
Amazon is accused of violating federal and state antitrust laws, but the company has responded with a full-throated defense of its business practices.
The antitrust case is the most aggressive move the government has taken to tame the market power of Seattle-based Amazon and comes as the FTC has been taking big swings against tech companies.
The agency claimed then-CEO Jeff Bezos instructed executives to accept more junk ads — internally called “defects” — because the company could earn more money through increased advertising despite their presence being a headache for consumers.
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