Hundreds of UK jobs are at risk after Tiktok confirmed plans to reorganize its plans for content review and transfer work to other parts of Europe.
The social media giant, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide, said the move is part of a global restructuring of its trust and security sector and reflects its growing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) to regulating content.
“We are continuing to reorganize and we began strengthening our global trust and security operation model last year, which includes focusing our operations in less locations around the world,” a Tiktok spokesperson said.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) condemned the decision, accusing Tiktok of “putting corporate greed on the safety of workers and the public.”
“Tiktok workers have long been alerting the real cost of cutting human temperance teams to support a rapidly developing, immature AI alternative,” said John Chadfield, a state official at CWU.
He added that the news was “as the company’s workers are about to vote for their union to approve.”
Tiktok defended the cuts, believing that these changes would increase “effectiveness and speed” while reducing the amount of painful content that human reviewers have suffered. The company said the AI system has automatically removed 85% of rule-breaking positions.
The affected employees in the London Trust and Security team, as well as hundreds of employees throughout Asia, will be allowed to apply for other roles within Tiktok, and they will be given priority if the minimum requirements are met.
The restructuring is due to the tightening of supervision of social media platforms in the UK. The Online Security Act, which came into effect in July, puts stricter requirements for tech companies to protect users and verify age, with fines up to 10% of global turnover.
Tiktok introduces new parental controls, including the ability to block specific accounts and monitor privacy settings for older teens. But the company continues to face criticism of child safety and data practices. In March, the UK’s data watchdog launched a “major investigation” to the platform.
Tiktok said its recommendation system operates under “strict, comprehensive measures to protect youth privacy and security.”
The reduction highlights the tension between moderate efficiency and security of online content. While AI allows platforms to handle a large number of positions at scale, critics argue that human surveillance remains critical to capturing context, nuances and emerging harms.
For Tiktok, gambling occurs at sensitive moments. As regulators strengthen scrutiny of internal organizations and union organizations, the decision to reduce human temperance risks has re-raised questions about whether technology alone can ensure users’ safety.
