The Chinese owner of the popular social media app TikTok is set to sack hundreds of workers from its offices worldwide, including hundreds of employees in Malaysia.

It states that this is part of a planned shift to incorporate more Artificial Intelligence (AI) to moderate its content. ByteDance-owned TikTok stated on Friday that it will cut 10% of its workforce, and the most affected employees are those responsible for moderating content.

TikTok Job Cuts in Malaysia:

Two insiders privy to the developments said that as many as 700 jobs were initially claimed to have been cut in Malaysia. However, several user backlash forced TikTok to release information stating that fewer than 500 employees were laid off. These employees were reportedly told of the dismissals through email at the end of the Wednesday.

TikTok recently confirmed those dismissals to the media while explaining that those are the changes made in relation to moderation processes that have been implemented in response to its worldwide activity. The platform is still employing AI technology with the assistance of human moderators to moderate the content viewed on the platform.

Broader Layoffs and Future Plans:

TikTok also stated that this reorganization would affect not less than 400 workers globally. The company behind TikTok – ByteDance – currently has over 110 thousand employees and operates in 200 cities globally. One of the sources said that more layoffs might be enacted by the firm next month as it seeks to achieve more operational integration in the region.

A TikTok representative commented, ‘This is being done in continuation of our regular efforts to minimize our limitations and optimize our content moderation model internationally.’ This year, the company intends to spend $2 billion on trust and safety worldwide, and 80% of it will incorporate programs that automatically delete disagreeable content.

TikTok Regulatory Pressure in Malaysia:

The axing of job positions takes place as other tech firms worldwide, such as TikTok, are being pressured by the Malaysian government. The government has encouraged social media service provision entities to obtain operating licenses before January this year as it seeks to fight cybercrime.

In March this year, Malaysia complained of an increase in the sharing of hazardous content on social media platforms and called on platforms like TikTok to increase the measures they undertake to weed out such content.

The Star first broke the news of Job’s losses on Thursday through another local newspaper, The Malaysian Reserve.