As of Thursday, Meta has fired around 20 employees for spilling “confidential information” to the press and other parties outside of Meta.
“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,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told The Verge. “We take this seriously, and will continue to take action when we identify leaks.”
Arnold said that when employees join Meta, they are made aware of the company’s strict no-leaks policy, which prohibits staff from revealing internal information.
Related: ‘There Are Repercussions’: Meta Reminds Staff of Its Strict No-Leaks Policy — That Has Since Been Leaked to the Press
Meta cracked down on leaks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg held an all-hands meeting last month — and a recording leaked to multiple outlets almost immediately. That same day, The Verge also obtained an internal memo sent to staff by Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen warning them against sharing confidential information.
During a company Q&A earlier this month, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth noted the “tremendous number of leaks” from inside the company and warned employees that Meta was “making progress on catching people.” A recording of the meeting also leaked to the press.
Related: Meta Confirms It Is Doubling Executives Bonuses to ‘Motivate’ and ‘Reward Them’ a Week After Layoffs
Meta conducted performance-based layoffs on February 10 that affected 5% of its 72,000-person workforce or about 3,600 employees who weren’t meeting standards. The cuts surprised some affected workers, who said they had a “solid” track record of performance at the company.
Meta has also recently made sweeping changes to how content is moderated on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads with the decision to roll out Community Notes, a system that enables users to flag misleading content and write explanations citing their sources. The new system replaces the independent fact-checking one that Meta had in place for eight years.