ByteDance Dismisses 114 Employees Over Leaks, AI Backups, and Social Posts
ByteDance’s Chinese mainland 2026 Notice No. 3 says 114 employees were dismissed for Q2 2026 red-line violations. Cases included confidential-data leaks, unauthorized code backups via AI tools, and social media posts the company judged false.
Discipline notice
On 22 September 2026, ByteDance’s Enterprise Discipline and Professional Ethics Committee issued Chinese mainland 2026 Notice No. 3. The notice collected internal violation cases from the second quarter of 2026. Southern Metropolis Daily reporter Wang Chenchen covered the release.
The company said 114 employees were dismissed for crossing red lines. Eight people were referred to judicial authorities for suspected criminal offenses. Six people faced civil lawsuits for seriously harming company interests.
Confidential information
Multiple employees were punished for unauthorized queries and outbound sharing of internal confidential information. Some used system privileges to query confidential data and then leaked it to external peer companies through chat software or in-person display. Others disclosed their employee status and then helped outsiders query and leak internal confidential information.
Those involved were dismissed or had internships terminated. Some were named publicly, reported to an industry alliance, and sued.
AI tools and code backup
One cited case involved AI tool misuse and unauthorized backups. An employee used an AI tool to organize business information and produced more than 100 documents that contained internal confidential information, then copied those documents to a personal Feishu account. The same employee also backed up an internal code repository without authorization.
The employee’s team had already restated confidentiality rules during a pending-departure period. ByteDance dismissed the employee, added a named public notice, and imposed a financial penalty, citing clear intent.
Social media cases
After a first public mention in September 2025, the company again cited social media leaks and rumors. An intern posted false statements on an external social platform, fabricating claims about company culture and workplace atmosphere and attacking colleagues with derogatory labels. The post drew high engagement and spread to other platforms. ByteDance said the intern violated its social media policy and terminated the internship.
The discipline unit also found multiple employees posting false claims about work intensity. The company said those posts used exaggeration or distortion to gain traffic, or used hostile jokes, and that they harmed the employer brand. Those people received disciplinary action.
The notice asked staff to follow the social media policy and not publish false information that could affect company reputation.