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 on Monday)
The SEC has not yet confirmed whether it has launched an investigation based on her complaints.
But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun scrutinizing the leaked internal research and said it will closely examine whether the company broke any agreements in the $5billion settlement reached with the agency in 2019 over privacy concerns.
Facebook agreed to the massive settlement in response to its violation of privacy rules through its work with Cambridge Analytica, a research firm that bought the information of tens of millions of users without their knowledge.
The company's board agreed to create an independent privacy committee that removes 'unfettered control by Zuckerberg over decisions affecting user privacy' and also agreed to have greater oversight over third-party apps, Reuters reported.
That settlement also absolved Facebook and its top officials of any other consumer-protection violations known to the FTC at the time, though Democrats in the agency said the settlement did not go far enough or require a large enough fine, per the Wall Street Journal.
Despite the deal Facebook made, Haugen's massive trove may prove that not much has changed since the company's Cambridge Analytica scandal.
When asked for comment on the FTC probe, a Facebook spokesperson sent a statement to DailyMail.com that said, 'We are always ready to answer regulators' questions and will continue to cooperate with government inquiries.'
The allegations in the leaked documents have prompted lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic to call for regulation of the tech firm.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) said the leaked documents show Facebook bosses 'chronically ignored serious internal alarms, choosing to put profits over people' and said the company is 'obviously unable to police itself.'
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called for a new federal agency to protect personal data and ensure privacy
Meanwhile Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called for a new federal agency to protect personal data and ensure privacy.
In an op-ed for NBC News, she wrote: 'The approach companies like Facebook take to data is motivated not by protecting our privacy but by growing their profit and power.'
Her proposed agency would review 'high-risk' data practices and write new rules for data privacy, she suggested.
Legislation in the UK and the EU is further along with draft bills expected in early 2021 to introduce 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