Zuckerberg fires approximately 20 Meta employees for leaking info
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Meta did not disclose details on how it identified the employees involved or which departments they belonged to.
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Mark Zuckerberg talks about the Orion AR glasses during the Meta Connect conference on September 25, 2024, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed approximately 20 employees for leaking confidential company information, weeks after expressing frustration over internal disclosures, the company announced on 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 stated.
The spokesperson confirmed that the company "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."
Meta did not disclose details on how it identified the employees involved or which departments they belonged to.
The crackdown follows multiple incidents in which statements made by Zuckerberg and other senior executives during internal meetings or in company-wide memos surfaced in media reports, The New York Post reported on Thursday.
Internal tensions at Meta have escalated following Zuckerberg’s decision to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and discontinue the company’s fact-checking program—moves critics claim were aimed at aligning with US President Donald Trump.
During a January Q&A session with employees regarding Meta’s strategic shift, Zuckerberg expressed concern that his remarks would likely be leaked to the media.
"We try to be really open and then everything I say leaks," he reportedly said, according to The Verge, which first reported the firings. "It sucks".
As anticipated, Zuckerberg's comments were swiftly leaked, prompting Meta to issue a company-wide memo warning that those responsible would face termination.
"When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact," Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen wrote in the memo.
Meta's Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth later remarked that the company was "making progress on catching people"—a statement that was also leaked to the press.
The terminations follow the recent dismissal of approximately 4,000 employees categorized as "low performers", representing about 5% of Meta's workforce.
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