Amazon Sues to Block Records Request From Jeff Bezos-Owned Washington Post

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To strengthen perceptions of potential conflicts between Jeff Bezos’ diverse personal and professional activities, Amazon has taken legal action to block The Washington Post from acquiring documents concerning an internet satellite project.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday against a Washington state agency, the tech company argues that certain documents are not required to be released due to confidential business information they contain. However, the department in charge of the investigation believes these records should be made public. The newspaper “The Post” is not listed as a defendant in this legal action.

Filing the lawsuit occurs concurrently with increasing criticism that Bezos’ control of the outlet clashes with his ownership of Amazon, which may motivate him to win over figures the newspaper has been critical of, particularly President Donald Trump. For the first time since 1988, the Post declined to endorse a presidential candidate. This decision, similar to The Los Angeles Times opting not to endorse in the 2024 election, received strong criticism from journalists, editors, and readers, causing at least 250,000 subscribers to cancel their subscriptions.

The documents that The Post is seeking pertain to Project Kuiper, a venture designed to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink system, aiming to expand global broadband coverage using over 3,000 satellites. Last year, Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries carried out four inspections at one of the project’s state facilities. In November, The Post asked for “copies of inspection reports, investigation notes, interview summaries, complaints, and other related documents” concerning these investigations.

In the lawsuit, Amazon contends that the data Washington plans to share with the outlet encompasses confidential satellite blueprints, in addition to other vital trade secrets. This data, according to the company, “provides it with a significant advantage” over competitors and “holds their unique economic worth due to being largely unknown to the public at large.

The company isn’t aiming to withhold all the documents being requested, but rather certain ones that include alleged trade secrets, which are not required to be shared under the Public Records Act due to their proprietary nature. This law protects confidential financial information and trade secrets from being disclosed.

Amazon argues it’s merely trying to safeguard specific documents related to the technical and design elements of Project Kuiper’s satellites, satellite constellation, and connected technologies – these are the ones requested by The Post. Amazon believes that any public curiosity regarding Labor & Industries (L&I) investigations is adequately fulfilled with the information they aren’t shielding,” as reported by GeekWire in their initial report.

The legal action further argues that disclosing the records could jeopardize community safety and the reliability of public utilities and communication systems. It requests the judge to rule that certain details from these records should not be provided to The Washington Post.

As a gamer putting down my controller for a moment, I’d say it goes like this: After hearing that the outlet won’t receive my endorsement, I admitted there might be an appearance of a conflict of interest if I were to own it. However, I stood firm in my decision, defending it for reasons I believe are valid.

At the New York Times DealBook Summit in December, he expressed that the advantages were minimal and receiving endorsements could potentially enhance the appearance of bias when news media aim for objectivity and independence.

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2025-01-30 03:24