In a bold move by ByteDance, the company that owns the TikTok app, it has been announced that over 700 employees in Malaysia have been laid off due to increasing reliance on artificial intelligence technologies in content monitoring. Unlike traditional reasons that usually lead to layoffs such as financial crises, this step is a result of technological advancements that the company has leveraged to reduce the need for human intervention.
According to a report by Reuters, most of the employees who were laid off worked in content verification and monitoring departments, which were responsible for ensuring compliance with TikTok’s guidelines and policies. However, ByteDance developed artificial intelligence technologies capable of automatically and rapidly removing about 80% of content that violates those guidelines, enhancing the efficiency and speed of the monitoring process.
But the layoffs were not limited to Malaysia only, as ByteDance confirmed plans to reduce the number of jobs in other countries as part of its global expansion of AI usage in content monitoring.
These moves come amidst ongoing pressure from governments around the world on social media platforms to enhance content monitoring, especially with the increasing number of young and child users. This issue raises growing concerns about the safety of these users who may be exposed to inappropriate content, such as cyberbullying and online harassment.
TikTok, on its part, has not ignored these concerns, as a company spokesperson stated that there is a plan to invest around $2 billion this year in trust and safety initiatives to improve platform safety and protect users. This step comes in the context of global initiatives to protect children, with both the United States and the United Kingdom announcing the formation of dedicated work teams to enhance online child safety, in addition to the UK’s implementation of a new law to strengthen user safety.
