On September 4, ByteDance's Corporate Discipline and Professional Ethics Committee released its third bulletin for mainland China in 2025, disclosing employee violations during the second quarter. The report revealed that 100 employees were dismissed for violating company policies, with 18 individuals named publicly for serious violations including criminal activities and malicious damage to company interests. Eight employees suspected of criminal conduct have been transferred to judicial authorities, with industry alliances notified and stock options revoked.
Notably, the bulletin highlighted information security violations, reporting that 10 employees who participated in paid external interviews were penalized for violating the company's Employee Code of Conduct and information security policies. ByteDance warned in the bulletin that external consulting firms often reach out through platforms like Maimai, LinkedIn, and Xiaohongshu under the guise of "expert interviews" or "industry research" to obtain confidential company information through paid interviews. The company advised employees to "reject such invitations to protect company information and data security, and safeguard your career."
Under "other violations," the report named employee Li, who after leaving the company repeatedly fabricated and spread false information damaging the company's and employees' reputations. Besides being publicly named and reported to the Sunshine Integrity Alliance and Enterprise Anti-Fraud Alliance, Li will face legal consequences. The bulletin stated that Li used social media platforms to maliciously attack and insult the company and former colleagues by impersonating other employees or posting anonymously, including "fabricating improper relationships between current employees, making insulting remarks about company staff, creating false attacks on company hiring standards, and falsely claiming the company and employees violated personal privacy."
The report emphasized that despite Li having already left the company when these incidents occurred, legal action will still be pursued to protect the company's and employees' reputations.
This year, major internet companies have continued strengthening internal culture building and anti-corruption efforts. On July 2, Bilibili Inc. issued an internal email reporting that Zhang, the former general manager of the gaming partnership department, engaged in serious職務犯罪 during his tenure at Bilibili and has been arrested by public security authorities.
On July 1, renowned gaming company Perfect World issued an internal announcement regarding anti-corruption investigations, revealing that multiple individuals seriously violated company policies and employment contracts during their tenure, with some employees and supplier representatives suspected of criminal activities. The company has reported these cases to public security authorities. Perfect World's corruption case involves multiple departments including Baiwan Studio, Qingyun Studio, and Hardcore Studio.
On June 9, the Supreme People's Court released typical criminal cases promoting private enterprise development, including the lawful punishment of internal corruption crimes within private enterprises to protect legitimate corporate interests.
Legal punishment of internal corruption crimes in private enterprises demonstrates that the economic property rights and legitimate interests of private enterprises are equally inviolable and equally protected by law. Private enterprise employees illegally accepting bribes, like government officials receiving bribes, constitutes criminal behavior that warrants conviction, sentencing, and recovery of criminal proceeds, ultimately resulting in "drawing water with a bamboo basket - all in vain."
"Rooting out parasites" and "eliminating internal threats" benefits the sustainable and healthy development of private enterprises. On one hand, using reform and innovation as driving forces to improve governance structures and management systems, regulate operator behavior, and strengthen internal supervision. On the other hand, using integrity and law compliance as the baseline to establish internal mechanisms for preventing and addressing corruption, enhance early warning and identification capabilities, strengthen integrity risk prevention and control, particularly in standardizing accounting practices and preventing financial fraud.
In practice, private enterprises often face difficulties in evidence collection and definition when dealing with internal personnel crimes, frequently handling such matters internally, which makes it difficult to eliminate corruption risks. Companies should therefore demonstrate "decisive action" resolve and bring "bad actors" to justice.