Unions and some of the UK\u2019s highest profile online safety campaigners have today called on MPs to urgently investigate a proposed wave of over 400 job cuts from TikTok\u2019s London office.<\/p>
The redundancies are targeted at the \u2018Trust and Safety Team\u2019, which is responsible for protecting users and communities from harmful online content - including deep fakes, toxicity and abuse.<\/p>
In an open letter to Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, online safety campaigners along with TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak and CWU General Secretary Dave Ward say the committee must investigate and examine the implications for UK online safety and workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>
Letter signatories \u2013 which include prominent online safety campaigners such as Ian Russell, Adele Zeynep Walton and Alice Hendy MBE \u2013 warn that up to 30 million TikTok users (including an estimated 1 million children under the age of 13) are at risk without safety-critical staff working in content moderation.<\/p>
On the threat to online safety, the letter warns:<\/p>
\u201cEvery single redundancy is targeted at the \u2018Trust and Safety Team\u2019, effectively ending content moderation in London - with similar cuts to human moderation happening worldwide.<\/p>
\u201cThese safety-critical workers are the frontline of protecting users and communities from deep fakes, toxicity and abuse.<\/p>
\u201cThe UK has 30 million TikTok users, of which well over 1 million are estimated by the official regulator to be children under 13 - despite TikTok\u2019s own rules stating that 13 is the minimum age to create an account. \u201cTikTok is already subject to an investigation by the Information Commissioner\u2019s Office for misuse of children\u2019s data. \u201cAnd now it is looking to replace skilled UK workers with unproven AI-driven content moderation and with workers in places like Kenya or the Philippines who are subject to gruelling conditions, poverty pay and precarity as they toil for Big Tech\u2019s billionaires.\u201d<\/p>
The CWU say over 400 job cuts were announced just eight days before workers were scheduled to vote on union recognition with the United Tech and Allied Workers \u2013 with workers seeking job security and protection for whistleblowing on unethical practices.<\/p>
Accusing TikTok of \u201ccutting corners\u201d at the cost of workers\u2019 rights, user safety and the integrity of online information, signatories say TikTok must reverse the planned Trust and Safety redundancies and respect workers\u2019 rights to organise.<\/p>
The TUC says replacing UK jobs with AI and offshoring to countries where workers have less rights is \u201creprehensible\u201d. The letter points out that there is \u201cno business case\u201d for the redundancies.<\/p>
On TikTok\u2019s \u201cunion busting\u201d, the union leaders and other letter signatories say:<\/p>
\u201cThe mass UK job cuts were announced just eight days before workers were scheduled to vote on union recognition with the United Tech and Allied Workers, the tech-focused branch of the Communication Workers Union. These workers sought a union for job security and protection for whistleblowing on unethical practices.<\/p>
\u201cThere is no proper business case for making these redundancies. TikTok\u2019s revenues are booming \u2013 with a 40% increase for the UK and Europe alone. \u201cYet the company has decided to cut corners. We believe this decision is an act of union-busting - at the cost of workers\u2019 rights, user safety and the integrity of online information.\u201d<\/p>
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: \u201cReplacing more than 400 safety-critical UK jobs with AI and smaller numbers of low-paid workers abroad is reprehensible. These devastating cuts will put millions of Brits \u2013 many of them children \u2013 at risk of accessing harmful content online.<\/p>
\u201cSelect Committee MPs should now investigate the impacts for workers\u2019 rights, user safety and the integrity of online information.\u201d<\/p>
Online safety campaigner Adele Zeynep Walton said: \u201cAt a time when the majority of British children have seen harmful content online, TikTok\u2019s decision to cut safety staff will cost young people their lives. TikTok\u2019s algorithm has consistently been found to amplify dangerous content that promotes suicide and self-harm to child accounts, and this decision would only exacerbate this crisis. \u201cAs someone bereaved by online harms, I hear daily of new tragedies that could have been prevented if social media platforms put user safety over profit. Rather than following in the reckless footsteps of Meta and X, TikTok ought to prioritise user safety, if it genuinely cares about its community\u2019s wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>
A TikTok content moderator said: \u201cTikTok\u2019s decision to drastically cut human moderation comes at the expense of our jobs and your safety. <\/p>
\u201cWe take pride in working to make the internet a safe place for everyone and have serious concerns about TikTok\u2019s cost-cutting and offshoring, which we know will have a huge impact on the platform\u2019s safety. <\/p>
\u201cDespite TikTok\u2019s best efforts to smash the union and silence our voices, they won\u2019t succeed.<\/p>
\u201cWe know organising is the only way to hold TikTok to account, protect jobs, and make the internet a better place.\u201d <\/p>
The signatories call on TikTok to:<\/p>
And ask Chi Onwurah MP to:<\/p>
\u200d<\/p>
\u200d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unions and some of the UK\u2019s highest profile online safety campaigners have today called on MPs to urgently investigate a proposed wave of over 400 job cuts from TikTok\u2019s London office. The redundancies are targeted at the \u2018Trust and Safety Team\u2019, which is responsible for protecting users and communities from harmful online content – including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1051],"tags":[],"audience":[967],"class_list":["post-20623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pr","audience-charity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n