TikTok Cuts Hundreds Of Workers In Transition To AI-Based Content Moderation

Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok (photo: x @denisezhelev)

JAKARTA The TikTok social media platform, which is owned by Chinese ByteDance, has cut hundreds of workers from its global workforce, including a large number of staff in Malaysia. This is part of the shift to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in content moderation.

On Friday, October 11, the company confirmed this reduction, with the number affected reaching less than 500 employees in Malaysia.

Two sources familiar with the situation say that more than 700 jobs have been cut in Malaysia, most of whom are employees involved in content moderation. Workers were notified via email on Wednesday night 9 October about their termination of employment.

TikTok stated that this change is part of a broader effort to strengthen its content moderation operations. The company plans to increase efficiency through the use of automated technology, where about 80% of content that violates guidelines has been removed by AI technology.

TikTok is also facing increasing regulatory pressure in Malaysia. The Malaysian government asked social media operators to register operating permits from January 2024 to fight cybercrime.

Global technology companies, including TikTok, have been asked to tighten surveillance of harmful content on their platforms.

This step of reducing labor is also linked to ByteDance's plan to streamline its regional operations further next month.