ByteDance Lays Off Over 700 Staff At TikTok Malaysia
The layoffs were communicated via emails.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 11 Oct 2024, 12:00 PM
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has reportedly laid off a significant number of employees in Malaysia
According to claims circulating online, over 700 staff members have been affected.
The Malaysian Reserve reported that these layoffs were communicated via email. The majority of those impacted are believed to be content moderators overseeing not just Southeast Asia but other regions as well.
TikTok, like other social media platforms, relies on a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human moderators to ensure its content adheres to policies. Human moderators play a vital role in supervising AI systems, a practice known as "supervised learning", where human feedback helps AI improve its accuracy.
The layoffs suggest that ByteDance may be transitioning towards a greater reliance on AI for content moderation, reducing the need for human oversight
Unofficial reports circulating on social media have hinted that this shift is part of a broader strategy to automate content moderation processes.
Supporters of this move argue that AI is more efficient and cost-effective in the long term, though these claims remain unverified.
As of now, TikTok Malaysia has yet to release an official statement addressing the layoffs or confirming the shift towards automation.
ByteDance's decision to reduce its content moderation workforce in Malaysia is part of a larger trend within the company
In June, Bloomberg reported that the company laid off 450 employees in Indonesia after merging a recently acquired e-commerce firm with its TikTok operations. Similarly, ByteDance has made global workforce reductions across multiple departments this year.
According to a report from CNN in May, TikTok's global restructuring will likely impact teams involved in user support, content management, and marketing. As part of this reorganisation, ByteDance is expected to disband its global user operations team, with the remaining employees redistributed to other departments, such as trust and safety, product development, and marketing.
As the use of AI continues to grow, the balance between human workers and technology in content moderation remains a critical question for the future of platforms like TikTok.
