TikTok continues AI push, slashes jobs in the UK

Further redundancies raise questions over ability to confirm to Digital Services Act

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TikTok is laying off a large part of its trust & safety team in London and replacing them with AI and externally hired staff.

In practical terms, this means that when harmful content is published about someone that a machine has to pass judgment on it.

TikTok said it wants to streamline its processes and end users will not notice. This is a global initiative that was deployed last year.

Earlier this month the social network announced that its German trust & safety team was being downsized in favour of a similar approach now being adopted in the UK.

According to The Guardian nearly a thousand employees of trust & safety teams in several countries were sacked last year.

The EU’s Digital Services Act of 2022 requires social media companies, including TikTok, to strictly secure their platforms against malicious content or risk hefty fines. TikTok is aiming to maintain its compliance with the Act and protect children with an automated age checker currently being tested in five EU member states. This should protect children online from harmful content and the impact of social media on their mental health.

In contrast, Facebook, Instagram and WhasApp parent company Meta does not actually want to do age verification itself at all, and Google wants to outsource it to third party providers such as local banks.

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