October 13, 2024
TikTok is laying off hundreds of workers as the social media app moves towards using artificial intelligence to moderate its content.
Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, confirmed the redundancies this week.
Up to 700 people are believed to be hit globally with affected staff members told via email on Wednesday.
About 500 employees were laid off in Malaysia alone, according to Reuters.
In a statement provided to news.com.au, a spokeswoman for TikTok said Australian workers would not be affected.
“We’re making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation,” she said.
“We expect to invest $2bn globally in trust and safety in 2024 alone and are continuing to improve the efficacy of our efforts, with 80% of violative content now removed by automated technologies.”
Employees in the US will also not be affected by the changes.
ByteDance has about 110,000 employees in more than 200 cities globally, according to the company website.
The move comes after months of speculation that the social media company was planning to reduce its global operations.
Aussie senator warns against TikTok
Opposition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson says TikTok could pose a “national security risk” due to its link with the Chinese Communist Party, calling on the Albanese government to take more leadership into how it can manage potential threats.
In the US, ByteDance has until January 19 to sell the popular social media platform before it is banned outright in America.
However, the app has taken the US government to court and says the forced sale is unconstitutional would stifle the speech of TikTok and its roughly 170 million American users.
While Mr Paterson has not called on Anthony Albanese to institute a similar policy, he told Insiders on Sunday more should be done to mitigate its potential “national security and foreign interference risk”.
“The reason why that is important is ByteDance is subject to the control of Chinese Communist Party, particularly in relation to article 17 of the intelligence law which requires the agencies to co-operate and keep it secret,” he said.
“TikTok will pose a national security risk and particularly a foreign interference risk in our democracy.
“The worrying thing is you might end up with a safer version of TikTok in the US and a more dangerous version in Australia because we have been unwilling to take that action.”
In separate legal action, 14 US lawyer generals are also suing the platform alleging it made false claims it was safe for young people, despite it being created with the intention to ensure young people would become addicted to the app.
In Australia, the Prime Minister has said there are no plans to ban TikTok for civilians, however the app is currently banned on government devices.
Labor is also moving to implement an age restriction for social media apps, with a legislated minimum age set to be introduced into the parliament later this year.
