A former Meta employee has alleged that he was terminated for sharing an internal company update with his wife, despite the information already being publicly available. His claims come amid Meta’s increasing crackdown on leaks within the organisation.
Riley Berton, who previously worked as a staff software engineer at Meta, shared his experience in a viral LinkedIn post. He said the company dismissed him for forwarding a Workplace post—Meta’s internal communication platform—from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The post in question, dated 14 January, discussed stricter performance reviews for employees. By the time Berton shared it with his wife, major publications such as Business Insider and The Verge had already reported on it.
He insisted he was not responsible for the original leak. However, Meta’s policies around internal information sharing led to his dismissal. Berton pointed out that if his wife had read the post over his shoulder or taken a photo of it, he would not have faced termination. He questioned why forwarding the same content resulted in such a severe consequence.
Adding to his frustration, Berton noted the timing of his dismissal. He had recently received an ‘Exceeds Expectations’ rating for his performance. His termination date, he said, fell just one day before he was supposed to receive a performance-based bonus. He suggested the decision may have been financially motivated.
Beyond his own case, Berton claimed that Meta has fired hundreds of employees for similar reasons. Some were allegedly dismissed for copying internal posts into their personal notes apps, which later synced to cloud storage. He described these actions as extreme, arguing that many employees were simply venting work-related stress with their families.
Meta has not publicly commented on Berton’s claims. However, the company has been actively reinforcing its policies against leaks. Earlier, a Meta spokesperson had emphasised that sharing internal updates, regardless of intent, violates company policies and can result in termination.
