ByteDance releases its first disciplinary report of 2026: 7 individuals handed over to judicial authorities for suspected criminal offenses

ByteDance’s Corporate Discipline and Professional Ethics Committee today released Bulletin No. 2026-1 for mainland China, disclosing the handling of internal violations in the fourth quarter of 2025. In this bulletin, ByteDance dismissed 65 employees who touched the red lines of discipline. Among them, 10 employees were publicly named in the bulletin due to serious circumstances: 7 people were handed over to judicial authorities for handling due to alleged criminal offenses, and at the same time were included in the industry alliance list and had their options periods penalized; additionally, 1 person was simultaneously included in the industry alliance list. Based on the contents of the bulletin, ByteDance is strengthening governance of information security-related violations and focusing on curbing behaviors such as lending Feishu work accounts and office equipment; obtaining/storing/leaking/accessing confidential information in violation of regulations; obtaining internal information involving state secrets in non-work scenarios; and leaking confidential information externally. The bulletin also states that 9 people were dismissed for information security-related violations such as lending Feishu work accounts and office equipment. This bulletin further discloses two cases in which employees were dismissed for allegedly leaking information through rumor-making on social media. (Sci-Tech Innovation Board Daily)