On Friday, Jan. 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rare joint announcement aimed to warn of increasing consequences for parties that fail to properly preserve and produce ephemeral messages in response to antitrust investigations (See Press Release, FTC and DOJ Update Guidance That Reinforces Parties' Preservation Obligations for Collaboration Tools and Ephemeral Messaging" (Jan. 26, 2024)). In this announcement, the agencies made clear ephemeral messages would be included in their standard preservation letters and specifications for all second requests, voluntary access letters, and compulsory legal process, including grand jury subpoenas. It also warned that failure to preserve and produce these communications could result in criminal obstruction of justice charges.