Meta has terminated about 20 employees for leaking confidential company information to external sources, the social media giant confirmed Thursday.
“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,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. The company warned that more terminations may follow as their investigation continues.
The firings come amid a surge in news reports based on leaked details from internal meetings and unannounced product plans. Most notably, recent leaks revealed comments from CEO Mark Zuckerberg during an all-hands meeting where he expressed frustration about information sharing.
“We try to be really open and then everything I say leaks. It sucks,” Zuckerberg reportedly told staff, adding that employees should “buckle up” for the coming year.
The crackdown follows what some observers describe as Zuckerberg’s political shift toward President Donald Trump. Since the November election, Zuckerberg has dined with the Republican president multiple times, donated to his inauguration fund, and implemented changes to Meta’s content moderation policies.
Meta has scaled back its fact-checking program and made other content policy changes that some see as efforts to align with the new Republican leadership in Washington.
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After initial leaks about these changes, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth reportedly told employees the company was “making progress on catching people” responsible for the information sharing.
With this mass termination Meta is increasingly pushing against leakages of vital information, especially at a time when employee morale has reportedly suffered following recent layoffs and policy changes. Some of the changes include the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that Zuckerberg characterized as targeting “low-performers.”
