Social media platform TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees from its global workforce, including a large number in Malaysia, the company said on Friday, as it focuses on greater use of AI in content moderation.
More than 700 jobs have been cut in Malaysia, two sources familiar with the matter previously told Reuters. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, later clarified that fewer than 500 employees in the country were affected.
The employees, most of whom were involved in the firm’s content moderation operations, were informed of their dismissal by email late Wednesday, the sources said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In response to Reuters questions, TikTok confirmed the layoffs and said several hundred employees were expected to be affected globally as part of a broader plan to improve its moderation operations.
TikTok employs a mix of automated recognition and human moderators to review content posted on the site.
According to the company’s website, ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees in more than 200 cities globally.
One of the sources said the technology firm is planning more layoffs next month as it looks to consolidate some of its regional operations.
“We are making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the company expects to invest $2 billion in trust and safety globally this year and will continue to improve efficiency, with 80% of content violating guidelines being removed by automated technologies.
The layoffs were first reported by business portal The Malaysian Reserve on Thursday.
The job cuts come as global technology companies face greater regulatory pressure in Malaysia, where the government told social media operators to apply for operating licenses by January as part of an effort to combat cyber crimes. Is.
Malaysia reported a sharp increase in harmful social media content earlier this year and urged companies including TikTok to step up monitoring of their platforms.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
