TikTok puts hundreds of UK jobs at risk

TikTok is putting hundreds of jobs astatine hazard successful the UK, arsenic it turns to artificial quality to measure problematic content.

The video-sharing app said a planetary restructuring is taking spot that means it is "concentrating operations successful less locations".

Layoffs are acceptable to impact those moving successful its spot and information departments, who enactment connected contented moderation.

Unions person reacted angrily to the determination - and assertion "it volition enactment TikTok's millions of British users astatine risk".

Figures from the tech elephantine suggest much than 85% of the videos removed for violating its assemblage guidelines are present flagged by automated tools.

Executives besides reason that AI systems tin assistance trim the magnitude of distressing and graphic contented that moderation teams are exposed to.

It comes weeks aft the Online Safety Act came into force, which means societal networks tin look immense fines if they neglect to halt the dispersed of harmful material.

The Communication Workers Union has claimed the redundancy announcement "looks apt to beryllium a important simplification of the platform's captious moderation teams".

In a statement, it warned: "Alongside concerns ranging from workplace accent to a deficiency of clarity implicit questions specified arsenic wage scales and bureau attendance policy, workers person besides raised concerns implicit the prime of AI successful contented moderation, believing specified 'alternatives' to quality enactment to beryllium excessively susceptible and ineffective to support TikTok idiosyncratic safety."

John Chadfield, the union's nationalist serviceman for tech, said galore of its members judge the AI alternatives being utilized are "hastily developed and immature".

He besides alleged that the layoffs travel a week earlier unit were owed to ballot connected national recognition.

"That TikTok absorption person announced these cuts conscionable arsenic the company's workers are astir to ballot connected having their national recognised stinks of union-busting and putting firm greed implicit the information of workers and the public," helium added.

The tech elephantine presently employs much than 2,500 radical successful the UK, and is owed to unfastened a caller bureau successful cardinal London adjacent year.

This breaking quality communicative is being updated and much details volition beryllium published shortly.

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