TikTok is implementing significant job reductions, affecting numerous employees.
Millions of individuals utilize TikTok daily, yet fewer individuals are managing the app's operations behind the scenes. To monitor content, the company intends to increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. This shift comes with ramifications.
TikTok, a subsidiary of the Chinese Bytedance conglomerate, announced it will eliminate numerous jobs globally as part of its increased reliance on AI in content moderation. The platform's spokesperson mentioned plans to invest two billion dollars (approximately 1.83 billion euros) into "trust and safety," as well as enhance the "efficiency" of these efforts.
At present, 80% of "harmful content" is eliminated by "automated technologies." TikTok employs a mix of human moderators and automated detection to scrutinize the content published on the platform. Rumors have circulated that the firm will drastically reduce its operational team and marketing staff worldwide in recent months. Bytedance, the company's parent, reports employing more than 100,000 individuals in over 200 cities globally, according to their website.
The company has not specified which countries will see job cuts. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that a substantial number of job losses will impact Malaysia. Recently, large technology companies operating in Malaysia have faced escalating regulatory pressure due to malicious and controversial content on online platforms in that Southeast Asian country.
Termination via Email
The vast majority of the affected employees, who were predominantly in charge of content moderation for the Chinese video platform, were informed of their dismissals through email on Wednesday evening, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters.
A decision was recently made to discontinue the further development of TikTok Music. From November 28, the music streaming service will no longer be available. So far, the music platform has been in a test phase with restricted access. As of now, the service has not been launched in Germany.
TikTok is implementing a significant reduction of work in its content moderation team due to its increased reliance on AI, affecting many employees globally. With the shift towards automated content monitoring, the company aims to invest heavily in improving "trust and safety" and increasing the efficiency of these efforts.
