TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees and implementing AI for content moderation

TikTok, the popular social network owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has announced the layoff of hundreds of employees worldwide, including a significant number in Malaysia.

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The decision is related to the company's move to use more artificial intelligence (AI) tools to moderate content. According to TikTok, more than 80 per cent of harmful or infringing content is already removed using AI.

The cuts affected more than 700 jobs in Malaysia, although the company later clarified that the number was less than 500. Affected employees, many of whom worked in content moderation, were notified of the layoffs via email. TikTok said the restructuring was necessary to strengthen the company's global operating model for content moderation.

The company also plans to invest $2 billion in trust and safety initiatives around the world this year. The layoffs come amid growing pressure from regulators in Malaysia who are pushing for stricter moderation of social media content related to sensitive topics such as race, religion and royalty.

Source: Reuters