TikTok to Lay off Hundreds of U.K. Content Moderators in AI Push

“We are continuing a reorganization that we started last year to strengthen our global operating model for trust and safety,” a TikTok spokesperson said Friday. The plan involves concentrating operations in fewer locations globally, the spokesperson added.

TikTok launched a revamp of its content-moderation operations in October last year, but didn’t disclose at the time the number of employees being laid off.

The job cuts will affect several hundreds of people in the U.K., out of a workforce of about 2,500 in the country, and the plan remains subject to a consultation process, according to the company.

The move comes as the U.K. gradually rolls out its Online Safety Act, which makes social-media firms more responsible for illegal content on their site.

TikTok has been investing in AI and other moderation technologies to automate the process and reduce moderators’ exposure to graphic content. More than 85% of content removed from the platform for violating its guidelines is identified and taken down by automation, according to TikTok.

Rival social-media companies have taken steps away from policing what is said on their platforms. Meta Platforms said earlier this year it would end fact-checking and remove restrictions on speech across Facebook and Instagram, following in footsteps of X, which loosened content-moderation systems after Elon Musk acquired the platform in 2022.

The job cuts at TikTok look likely to be a significant reduction of its moderation teams and come after workers raised concerns about the effectiveness of AI in content moderation, U.K.’s Communication Workers Union said.

“TikTok workers have long been sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favor of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives,” CWU’s tech head John Chadfield said.

Write to Adrià Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com