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Meta has terminated “roughly 20” employees for leaking “confidential information outside the company,” as confirmed by a spokesperson.
“We tell employees when they join the company, and we offer periodic reminders, that it is against our policies to leak internal information, no matter the intent,” said Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold. “We recently conducted an investigation that resulted in roughly 20 employees being terminated for sharing confidential information outside the company, and we expect there will be more. We take this seriously and will continue to take action when we identify leaks.”
The company has intensified its crackdown on leaks following a series of reports revealing details about unannounced product plans and internal meetings, including a recent all-hands meeting led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. After discussions from that meeting were shared externally, employees were reminded about the company’s stance on leaks. In a follow-up statement, CTO Andrew Bosworth noted that Meta was “making progress on catching people.”
Employee morale has reportedly declined in the wake of major internal shifts, including changes to content moderation policies, the end of DEI programs, and recent layoffs targeting “low-performers.” The announcement about the terminations did not specify what information was leaked, who the individuals were, or where the leaks were directed.
“There’s a funny thing that’s happening with these leaks,” Bosworth remarked during an internal meeting in early February. “When things leak, I think a lot of times people think, ‘Ah, okay, this is leaked, therefore it’ll put pressure on us to change things.’ The opposite is more likely.”
