TikTok to Cut Hundreds of Jobs, Malaysia Among Affected Countries

News Desk

Islamabad: TikTok announced plans to slash hundreds of jobs globally, with a significant number of layoffs expected to impact its workforce in Malaysia, as the platform transitions to AI-assisted content moderation.

Owned by China-based ByteDance, TikTok confirmed on Friday that several hundred employees worldwide will be affected, though specific figures for each country were not disclosed.

In Malaysia, fewer than 500 jobs are anticipated to be affected by the restructuring.

A TikTok spokesperson explained that the layoffs are part of the company’s efforts to enhance content moderation.

“We expect to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety in 2024 and are improving the effectiveness of our efforts, with 80 percent of violative content now being removed by automated technologies,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

TikTok currently employs both human moderators and automated systems to review content. The decision to downsize follows months of speculation regarding significant reductions in TikTok’s global operations and marketing workforce.

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has more than 110,000 employees across over 200 cities globally, according to its website.

The layoffs coincide with increased regulatory pressure in Malaysia, where authorities reported a surge in harmful content on social media earlier this year.

In response, the Malaysian government has required social media platforms to obtain operating licenses as part of efforts to combat rising cybercrime, including online fraud, sexual crimes against children, and cyberbullying.