ByteDance dismissed 353 employees for corrupt actions and Beauty and the Beast porn parody (1988)referred 39 to law enforcement for criminal prosecution in 2024, the company confirmed on March 7, according to Chinese media outlet Jiemian. The announcement, issued internally on March 6 in ByteDance’s Corporate Discipline and Professional Ethics Committee report, highlights the company’s latest efforts to curb corruption. A previous report in November 2024 detailed 103 dismissals, including 11 cases referred to law enforcement for criminal investigation. The report in November also revealed an incident involving a former intern who, dissatisfied with resource allocation, maliciously attacked a model training task, causing losses. ByteDance terminated the internship and reported the case to industry integrity alliances and the intern’s university. Chinese tech giants including Tencent have intensified internal anti-corruption efforts, with Tencent reporting over 100 dismissals and 20 criminal cases in 2024. [Jiemian, in Chinese]
