A gossip technique in internal orgs that relies on canaries.

No one wants to talk out of school about a thing they were told in confidence or know officially.

But when they have just a theory of a thing they will happily share it with others.

Once they're officially briefed, they can no longer share it, and also can't disconfirm it.

So they'll go silent and try to move on from gossiping on that topic if it comes up.

Their refusal to continue gossiping about a previously gossiped topic is a canary it's about to come true.