TikTok to Cut Hundreds of UK Jobs as It Shifts to AI Moderation

TikTok to Cut Hundreds of UK Jobs as It Shifts to AI Moderation
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According to reports from Anadolu Agency, Sky News, and The Guardian, TikTok plans to lay off hundreds of content moderation staff in the United Kingdom. This move is part of a global restructuring effort aimed at shifting more of the company’s content moderation responsibilities to artificial intelligence.

The layoffs come as the UK’s Online Safety Act, which places strict demands on digital platforms to protect users from harmful content, has recently come into effect. TikTok says the use of AI will allow it to “maximize effectiveness and speed” in content moderation and help reduce the amount of distressing or graphic content its human moderators are exposed to. The company claims that its automated tools already identify and remove more than 85% of videos that violate its guidelines.

However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has criticized the move, arguing that replacing human moderators with “hastily developed, immature AI alternatives” could put the safety of millions of users at risk. A CWU official, John Chadfield, also alleged that the timing of the announcement—just as workers were about to vote on union recognition—”stinks of union-busting.”