ByteDance's first disciplinary notice of the year: 65 employees dismissed, 7 referred to judicial authorities

Image source: Interface Gallery

On March 27, news came from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the Discipline and Ethics Committee of ByteDance released the 2026 No. 1 notice for mainland China, disclosing the handling of internal violations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In this notice, ByteDance has dismissed a total of 65 employees who violated disciplinary rules. Among them, 10 violators were reported by name due to the severity of their actions: 7 were transferred to judicial authorities for suspected criminal offenses, and were simultaneously added to the industry alliance blacklist and had their stock options forfeited; another person was also added to the industry alliance blacklist.

It is reported that in 2017, JD.com, Tencent, and other internet companies jointly initiated the “Sunshine Integrity Alliance” with the Criminal Law Science Research Center of Renmin University of China, establishing a shared blacklist system that exposes employees with “criminal records” when they apply to member companies, increasing the re-employment cost for employees with corrupt behaviors while also deterring other employees. ByteDance is one of the alliance members.

From the content of this notice, it can be seen that ByteDance is strengthening the governance of information security violations, focusing on curbing behaviors such as lending Feishu work accounts and office equipment, illegally obtaining/storing/leaking/accessing confidential information, obtaining internal confidential information in non-work scenarios, and leaking confidential information externally. In the notice, 9 individuals were dismissed due to information security violations related to lending Feishu work accounts, office equipment, and so forth. This notice also revealed 2 cases of social media rumors and leaks that resulted in dismissals.

Throughout 2025, in response to employees lending Feishu work accounts to external parties and participating in external paid interviews that leaked confidential information, ByteDance initiated a total of 12 civil lawsuits. As of now, in 9 of the 12 cases, formal filings have been submitted and are in the hearing process; 2 cases were settled by the company after the involved parties apologized and compensated; and 1 case has received a first-instance judgment in favor of the company.

ByteDance maintains a high-frequency internal anti-corruption reporting mechanism, with its Discipline and Ethics Committee releasing handling announcements quarterly. The third-quarter report for 2025 indicated that a total of 120 employees were dismissed for violating company rules, among which 28 were reported by name. Among the 28 named individuals, 14 were transferred to judicial authorities for suspected criminal activities, and the company simultaneously informed the industry alliance and canceled their stock options; 4 others were also reported to the industry alliance or had their options canceled due to severe violations.

In recent years, to combat issues such as embezzlement, commercial bribery, data leakage, and benefit transfers, several large internet companies have established internal disciplinary inspection departments, rigorously regulating through various means, terminating labor relations with confirmed violators in accordance with regulations, and transferring suspected criminal cases to judicial authorities to purify the internal ecosystem and prevent operational risks.

On January 23, Tencent Group’s Anti-Fraud Investigation Department released an anti-fraud report showing that throughout 2025, the department discovered and dealt with over seventy cases violating the “Tencent Red Line,” resulting in the dismissal of over ninety people. Among them, more than twenty were transferred to public security for suspected criminal offenses, and over thirty external individuals involved were also apprehended by public security.

Tencent also specifically reported cases from 2025 involving serious violations of laws and company regulations such as commercial bribery and embezzlement, detailing the dismissal and judicial treatment of involved employees, as well as those cases that have already received court judgments after being sent to judicial authorities.