Three whistleblowers reportedly allege TikTok’s safety is compromised after mass layoffs: Details explored

Social media platform TikTok has reportedly fired 400 of its employees from its London office. These workers were responsible for moderating content on the platform. Three whistleblowers, who lost their jobs, spoke to Sky News to express their concern about users' safety following the mass layoff. The media outlet published the interview on Thursday without revealing the faces.

In its exclusive, the publication reported that TikTok had employed thousands of "human moderators" across the globe. These moderators take down some of the most inappropriate content on the platform. The social media giant announced cuts to its moderation team in August this year.

In the Thursday interview, the host asked one of the whistleblowers whether the cuts would impact users' safety. The person responded:

"Yes. We felt like we were part of something big and then at the end of the day were the first ones to be replaced by AI or by people in other countries. All the people that I know in the company are already with a statement that they don't have jobs anymore."

A former TikTok moderator stated that the company argued that AI could do the job. The whistleblower questioned the rationale of restructuring while putting users' safety at risk. Another whistleblower contended that AI could potentially fail in striking down the unmoderated content.

"There are a lot of nuances in the language. AI cannot understand all the nuances. AI cannot differentiate some, I don't know, ironic comments versus a real threat or bullying, or I don't know a lot of things that we have to do with user safety, mainly of children and teenagers," the former employee stated.

The unidentified ex-moderator challenged TikTok's decision to employ people in other countries to monitor content. The whistleblower stressed the importance of cultural awareness in moderating content across different regions.

"When it comes to, for example, hate speech or harassment or bullying, there's always this cultural thing that maybe other people are not going to get," the former moderator added.

TikTok cites speed and effectiveness as the reason to replace the human workforce with AI

Sky News mentioned that TikTok told the outlet that the cuts were planned to maximize effectiveness and speed in its moderation work. The social media platform noted that more than 85 percent of its moderation work was already being monitored by automated technologies.

The cuts at the London offices prompted a parliamentary Select Committee on Science and Technology to question the company. The committee asked TikTok to present evidence that showed that layoffs would not put users at risk. The company, in its response, stated that the cuts would have a positive impact on content moderation.

The Select Committee published an article on November 13 and informed that the company failed to provide any substantive evidence.

"TikTok’s response represents a commitment to reducing staffing levels in favour of increasing the use of AI to moderate content on its platform. But TikTok have come up empty to show that this transition to AI won’t lead to more harms for its users. This is deeply concerning...It's alarming that they aren’t offering us transparency over this information. Without it, how can we have any confidence whether these changes will safeguard users?" The chair of the select committee remarked.

SkyNews reported that in its response to the committee, the company mentioned that the cuts were only a proposal. However, the media house stated that it had seen emails sent to employees in which they were offered to sign a Mutual Termination Agreement before October 31. Many of the moderators had reportedly already handed over their laptops and office passes.

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Edited by Anuj Singh Kushwaha