TikTok To Cut Hundreds Of UK Jobs As Safety, Moderation Shifts To AI

LONDON, Aug 22 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -– TikTok is putting hundreds of jobs at risk in the United Kingdom as part of a restructure of its trust and safety operations as it increasingly uses artificial intelligence (AI) to moderate content, reported PA Media/dpa news.

The video-sharing app said it was "concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally."

Plans for a global restructure will involve jobs in the UK, as well as South and South-East Asia.

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It is understood that several hundred jobs will be impacted in the UK, where it currently employs more than 2,500 staff.

Under the proposed plans, the work of affected employees will be reallocated to other offices in Europe and some third-party providers – with some trust and safety roles and operations remaining in the UK.

The Chinese-owned company has already been making lay-offs within its trust and safety teams around the world, including its German head office in Berlin.

A spokesman for the social media firm said: "We are continuing a reorganisation that we started last year to strengthen our global operating model for trust and safety, which includes concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally to ensure that we maximise effectiveness and speed as we evolve this critical function for the company with the benefit of technological advancements."

TikTok has increasingly been harnessing AI to moderate content shared on the app.

More than 85 per cent of the content removed for violating its community guidelines is identified and taken down by automation, according to the platform.

It also says that AI can reduce the amount of distressing or graphic content that its moderation teams are exposed to.

The restructure plans come shortly after the UK's Online Safety Act, enforced by Ofcom, came into force last month.

This requires online platforms to protect UK viewers from illegal material, such as child sexual abuse and extreme pornography.

Platforms are also required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content.

TikTok's safety moderation teams are trained to spot signs that accounts might be being used by a child, and they can then suspend the account.

But it can also use AI-based systems to identify information, such as keywords and in-app reports from the user community, that might point to a potentially underage account.

A spokesperson for the Communication Workers Union said: "This news will put TikTok's millions of British users at risk."

"TikTok workers have long been sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favour of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives."

"This has been a constant concern throughout the process of TikTok workers' efforts to form a union."

--BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa