Social media platform TikTok is to lay off hundreds of employees globally as it shifts its focus to using more artificial intelligence (AI) to moderate content, currently affecting employees in Malaysia, where the social media companies face regulatory pressure. The government requires social media operators to apply for operating licenses before the end of this year as part of a crackdown on cybercrime.

AI gradually replaces manual review

TikTok, a platform owned by China's ByteDance, will lay off 500 employees in Malaysia, most of whom are involved in the company's content moderation business, Reuters reported. Sources pointed out that more layoffs will be carried out next month to consolidate some regional operations.

ByteDance, which has more than 110,000 employees in more than 200 cities around the world, currently uses a combination of automated detection and manual review to review content posted on the site. The company expects to invest $2 billion globally this year to strengthen trust and safety mechanisms and continue to improve efficiency, with 80% of content that violates our guidelines now being removed through automated technology, a spokesperson said.

We are making changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation.

Malaysia requires social media operators to apply for operating licenses

The Malaysian government announced at the end of July that social media operators with more than 8 million users in the country will need to apply for an operating license before the end of this year to combat increasing cybercrime.

In light of the sharp increase in harmful content on social media, Malaysian regulators have issued directives to social media companies asking them to provide feedback on government concerns about cybercrime and harmful content found on their platforms, and urged to include Facebook parent company Meta and short video platform TikTok to strengthen monitoring of its platform. Currently, communications regulators can flag content to social media companies that violate local laws, but whether to delete it is up to the platform.

This article AI replaces manual review, TikTok begins large-scale layoffs in Malaysia. First appeared on Chain News ABMedia.