Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg complained about leaks during a meeting with employees Thursday audio from which, wait for it, was quickly leaked online, according to multiple media reports.
In the meeting, Zuckerberg told employees he will no longer be forthcoming with information because “We try to be really open and then everything I say leaks. It sucks.” He also warned them “buckle up” for the coming year.
In a follow-up memo, obtained by The Verge, the company’s chief information security officer Guy Rosen effectively said whoever leaked the audio will be fired.
“We take leaks seriously and will take action,” the memo said in part, according to The Verge. “When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact. Our teams become demoralized and we all waste time that is better spent working on our products and toward our goals and mission.”
The company will “take appropriate action, including termination” Rosen said.
Recent Meta leaks have coincided with Zuckerberg’s burgeoning relationship with President Donald Trump. In December Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, a departure from at least a decade of company policy. Meta did not contribute to President Biden’s inauguration in 2021 or Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
Meta once banned Trump from the platform after he incited the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the capitol in order to overturn the election and continued to insist he won the 2020 election. This about-face became apparent in October, after Trump described his relationship with Zuckerberg as being “much better.”
The donation came weeks after Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Trump adviser Stephen Miller said afterward that Meta’s CEO “made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership.”
On Wednesday Zuckerberg hailed Trump as a breath of fresh air. “We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” he said during Meta’s Q4 earnings call. “I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock.”
The statement came minutes after it was reported that the company will pay Trump $25 million to settle a lawsuit related to the president’s prior ban from the platform.
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