KUALA LUMPUR: BYTEDANCE Ltd, the parent company of TikTok, may lay off up to several hundred staff globally following its effort to further strengthen its global operating model for content moderation.
A TikTok spokesperson revealed the company plans to invest US$2 billion globally in trust and safety initiatives throughout 2024, focusing on improving the efficiency and impact of its content moderation efforts.
"We are making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation.
"We expect to invest US$2 billion globally in trust and safety in 2024 alone and are continuing to improve the efficacy of our efforts, with 80 per cent of violative content now removed by automated technologies," the spokesperson told Business Times.
While TikTok did not provide an exact figure on the number of employees impacted by these changes, it acknowledged that several hundred people would be affected globally.
This variation is due to differing local employment regulations around the world, it added.
Recently, local news reported that BYTEDANCE has laid off hundreds of staff in Malaysia.
According to the report, it said more than 500 individuals were terminated after receiving emails from the company.
It is said that most of the workers are working on content moderation on the platform, which is not just limited to Southeast Asia but other regions as well.