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Facebook has told its employees to “protect internal documents and communications since 2016” related to their jobs as governments and legislatures have launched investigations into their activities, according to a company email sent on Tuesday night.

Known as the “legal hold,” the move follows intense media, legal and regulatory scrutiny over the harms of the social network. Members of Parliament and the public are arming Frances HaugenA former Facebook employee became an informant, providing lawmakers and the media with thousands of internal documents showing how much he knew about some of the company’s ill effects, such as spreading misinformation and exacerbating body image issues in some teens.

those files, known as Facebook PapersPublished for the first time by Wall Street Journal.

“As you are probably aware, we are currently the focus of extensive media coverage based on a series of internal documents,” Facebook said in an email to employees by The New York Times. “As is often the case following such reporting, a number of investigations have been launched from governments and legislatures into the company’s activities.”

In the Facebook Documentation, company researchers discussed how to fix many of the problems that have arisen in some of their products over the years. Over time, Facebook’s core features such as Likes, shares, groups, recommendations were not only used to grow the company, but also Manipulated by some to harm users, documents showed. According to the documents, many Facebook employees struggled with how to get rid of the fallout.

Ms. Haugen filed whistleblower complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Room testified in congress this month and Meeting with British MPs On Monday.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the legal hold was sent to employees Tuesday evening, but declined to elaborate on what prompted the action. “Document retention requests are part of the process of responding to legal investigations,” he said.

Facebook has previously issued legal guidelines to employees. Last year, after the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general sued Facebook. In order to illegally crush their competitors, the company advised workers to avoid discussing litigation matters and asked them to take online training courses Understanding competition compliance policies.

Including the company an online advertising price fixing survey with Google as part of an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 state attorneys against the search giant last year.

Facebook also tried to restrict employee leaks. He told workers this month that he would make internal groups focused on the platform and election security private. This will make it difficult for them to see discussions on these topics and limit participation.

“These are actions of a company that is trying to resist scrutiny, not embrace transparency,” said Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who led the Senate subcommittee investigation at Facebook, in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the action. .

In Tuesday’s email, Facebook told its employees to hide everything since January 1, 2016. He also advised them that encrypted messages should be protected and noted that they should stay away from business casual messaging until further notice.

The email said there was “no specific action at this time,” but that employees should not discuss or post about the legal hold anywhere on Workplace, the company’s internal message board.

Not all aspects of Facebook’s business have received legal suspension, according to the email. The company provides its employees with only the documents related to the messaging service WhatsApp; Augmented reality studio Spark AR; and the New Product Trial group, an internal incubator, has been released from legal hold.

“As a company product, you don’t need to protect only WhatsApp-related documents or communications,” the email said. “You should protect all WhatsApp messages on other topics.”