Meta Fires 20 Employees Over Confidential Data Leak, Likely to Lay Off More

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has laid off nearly 20 employees over the alleged leaking of confidential company information, including unannounced product plans and details of internal meetings on Thursday. The company found out regarding the information leak during an internal probe and consequently fired the workers involved, according to an American technology news website, the Verge.  

“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. When employees join the tech giant, the company routinely reminds them of the data protection policies, and despite the nature of intent, leaking internal information is against those policies, Arnold added. 

Meta’s Data Leak Shake-Up 

The company became suspicious of the data leaks when certain stories around unannounced product proposals and internal meetings, including one recently led by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, started surfacing. Following which the company had warned the employees of possible termination via an internal notice in January this year. 

“When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact...Will take appropriate action, including termination,” said Meta’s chief information security officer, Guy Rosen, according to the Verge. 

However, while publicly announcing the news, the company reportedly didn’t mention anything regarding the subject matter of the information leaked. 

The development comes as a blow to Meta’s employees, who have already been experiencing a dip in motivation, due to sudden changes in the company’s content moderation policies, and the recent layoffs of “low performers”. Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s official return to the White House, the company also rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI), citing “shifting legal and policy landscape” as a reason in a notice to its employees. Mark’s Meta isn’t the only American firm that shifted its stance on inclusion policies to fall in line with Trump’s vision. Amazon, Walmart and McDonalds also took similar routes to scale back their diversity programs.