ByteDance cuts more than 700 jobs in Malaysia to shift to AI moderation, Reuters sources say

By Rozanna Latiff

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Chinese company ByteDance, the parent of social media platform TikTok, has laid off more than 700 workers at its Malaysian facility as the company turns its attention to greater use of artificial intelligence in content moderation, they said two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. .

The employees, most of whom were involved in the company’s content moderation operations, were informed of their dismissal by email late Wednesday, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In response to questions from Reuters, TikTok confirmed the layoffs on Friday but said it could not provide a precise figure on the number of employees affected in Malaysia.

Several hundred are expected to be affected globally as part of a wider plan to improve its moderation operations. TikTok uses a combination of automated detection and human moderators to review content posted on the site.

Bytedance has more than 110,000 employees in more than 200 cities globally, according to the company’s website.

The tech firm is also planning more cuts next month as it seeks to consolidate some of its regional operations, one of the sources said.

“We are making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.

The company expects to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety this year and will continue to improve efficiency, with 80 percent of infringing content now removed by automated technologies, the spokesperson said.

The layoffs were first reported by business portal The Malaysian Reserve on Thursday.

The job cuts come as global technology firms face greater regulatory pressure in Malaysia, where the government has required social media operators to apply for an operating license by January as part of an effort to combating cybercrime.

Malaysia reported a sharp rise in harmful social media content earlier this year and urged firms including TikTok to step up monitoring on their platforms.