One might argue that this is exactly the reason why slack should not have made this decision.
Inevitably, some communications channels are audit-able and some are not. Modern employees (being modern people) use a lot of channels. They call eachother, SMS, Whatsapp, Slack, email ...sometimes people even talk. Companies have only partial control.
Anyway, harassment or other misbehavior can happen on any of these. In some cases (like your intern case) companies have to audit, if they can.
Can Audit = Must Audit
If slack gives employers the option to read messages, they've given employers the responsibility to do it.
It's not cut and dry. You could argue that companies won't/can't use slack unless they can read messages. This is doubtless true in some cases and I imagine slack has it's eye on these cases right now. But, I think it's hard-ish to argue the magnitude is all that big today.
Companies did use slack before this feature existed, including yours.
Inevitably, some communications channels are audit-able and some are not. Modern employees (being modern people) use a lot of channels. They call eachother, SMS, Whatsapp, Slack, email ...sometimes people even talk. Companies have only partial control.
Anyway, harassment or other misbehavior can happen on any of these. In some cases (like your intern case) companies have to audit, if they can.
Can Audit = Must Audit
If slack gives employers the option to read messages, they've given employers the responsibility to do it.
It's not cut and dry. You could argue that companies won't/can't use slack unless they can read messages. This is doubtless true in some cases and I imagine slack has it's eye on these cases right now. But, I think it's hard-ish to argue the magnitude is all that big today.
Companies did use slack before this feature existed, including yours.