Meta has been ramping up efforts for a new team internally called “Insider Trust” as it works to shore up its corporate walls against leaks, Gazetteer SF has learned.
Based on recent job postings, the goal is to identify and respond to “insider threats to data.” A Meta job description for a security detection engineer details the need for improving “internal tools and systems to detect malicious activities” and to “hunt for insider threats.” The posting also describes the need for “advanced detection solutions.” So, surveillance.
According to the listing, the right candidate should be able to “carry out complex internal investigations,” working alongside Meta’s human resources and legal teams.
Meta has been under heavy scrutiny as of late — in part thanks to employee leaks — but also due to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s cozying up to Trump and the company’s about-face on content moderation and DEI initiatives. In January, for example, Gazetteer reported how Meta quietly removed mentions of LGBTQ-affirming care from its public benefits page. The company, when contacted by Gazetteer, said it was “removed in error.”
Employees have also recently leaked information pertaining to unannounced product plans, internal meetings, and an all-hands meeting in January where Zuckerberg addressed the issue of leaks. At that meeting, Zuckerberg said, “we try to be really open and then everything I say leaks,” The Verge reported at the time. In a subsequently leaked comment, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees the company was “making progress on catching people.”
The following month, Meta fired about 20 employees for leaking information. That came a couple of weeks after Meta laid off about 5% of its staff, which the company had determined were low-performers.
Meta did not respond to Gazetteer’s request for comment.
Additional reporting by Joshua Bote.
