Facebook wielded user data as a bargaining tool, according to leaked internal documents

The Facebook documents were leaked from a civil suit against Facebook

Thousands of leaked documents, including Facebook's internal emails and presentations, show how the company tried to control competitors and help friends by offering - or withholding - user data.

In April, it was reported for the first time about the confidential documents containing Facebook's internal communications, such as emails, web chats, presentations, and spreadsheets, mostly from 2011-2015, which were leaked from a civil suit against Facebook.

NBC News has now published a trove of nearly 7,000 confidential documents, which suggest that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was actually leveraging user data as a tool for bargaining with external app developers and other competitors.

For example, Facebook blacklisted MessageMe under its "reciprocity policy" after finding that the app had grown large enough and could become a competitor for the platform. Similarly, other companies, such as YouTube, Snapchat, and other messaging apps, were also blacklisted by the platform.

Mark Zuckerberg was actually leveraging user data as a tool for bargaining with external app developers

But, it rewarded online retail giant Amazon by giving it wide-ranging access to user data as the company was spending a vast amount of money on purchasing advertising on Facebook. Hootsuite, Nissan, Tinder, and Venmo were among the companies that were also allowed access to Facebook user data.

Zuckerberg also planned to portray these moves as a way to protect users' privacy on the platform, the documents suggest.

The lawsuit against Facebook was filed by Six4Three, now defunct start-up that created a failed app named 'Pikinis'. The app allowed its users to locate images of people in bathing suits, but needed access to the data of Facebook users and their friends in order to work.

Facebook argued that the documents... were being presented in a misleading way 'without additional context'.

In its complaint, Six4Three accused Facebook of abusing its power over user data.

Facebook, however, argued that the documents gathered by Six4Three were being presented in a misleading way "without additional context". The company also said that the primary aim of Six4Three's suit is to compel it to provide the similar type of data access as was abused by Cambridge Analytica a few years back.

Facebook currently faces intense scrutiny in the US and other countries over its business practices.

Last month, the company reached a deal with the UK Information Commissioner's Office over the misuse of users' personal data by Cambridge Analytica.

In July, the US Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion fine on Facebook for violating the terms of a 2012 order from the FTC.