'Everything I say leaks,' Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says in leaked meeting audio. 'It sucks'

A "leaked" footage of a meeting obtained by 404 Media appears to show Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg complaining about leaks. “We try to be really open, and then everything I say leaks,” Zuckerberg reportedly said during an “all-hands” meeting with staff. “It sucks," he added.

During a meeting on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg was complaining about his internal remarks being leaked — the remarks made at the Thursday meeting were also leaked to the press, according to 404 Media.

Zuckerberg said he had to be increasingly careful about what he says internally at Meta because “everything I say leaks. And it sucks, right?,” 404 Media reported.

Zuckerberg has been plagued with leaks amid his ongoing attempts to cozy up to US President Donald Trump in the wake of his November victory.

Meta recently agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to sources.

Precaution to prevent leaks: ‘Warnings and terminations’

Following the leaks, Meta chief information security officer Guy Rosen warned employees there would be “repercussions” for anyone caught speaking to the media, Mediaite reported.

“We take leaks seriously and will take action,” said Rosen in an internal memo, which was also leaked.

“When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact. Our teams become demoralised and we all waste time that is better spent working on our products and toward our goals and mission,” Rosen was quoted as saying.

Rosen warned employees that Meta would “take appropriate action, including termination” against anyone caught leaking. It claimed several employees were recently fired for the same offense.

“We recently terminated relationships with employees who leaked confidential company information inappropriately and exfiltrated sensitive documents,” the officer said reportedly.

What Zuckerberg about leaks?

Zuckerberg said, according to meeting audio obtained by 404 Media, that Meta made changes to the question-and-answer section of the company's "all-hands" meeting because of the leaks.

“I want to be able to be able to talk about stuff openly, but I am also trying to like, well, we’re trying to build stuff and create value in the world, not destroy value by talking about stuff that inevitably leaks,” he said.

So, rather than taking direct questions, the company used a “poll” system, where questions asked beforehand were voted on so that the “main themes” of the questions were addressed.

“There are a bunch of things that I think are value-destroying for me to talk about, so I’m not going to talk about those. But I think it’ll be good. You all can give us feedback later,” he added. “Maybe it’s just the nature of running a company at scale, but it’s a little bit of a bummer," the Meta CEO said.