Tiktok is facing potential legal action from two of its UK-based content moderators over plans to slash hundreds of jobs from its trust and safety team. The employees claim the redundancies were announced just days before a ballot was due to take place on whether to unionise, accusing the social media giant of “union-busting.”
In a legal letter sent to Tiktok, the moderators argue the company’s actions were unlawful, and are seeking for their roles to be reinstated and compensation for lost pay should they be made redundant. They allege Tiktok’s “utilisation rate” software encourages them to work faster, with strict screen-time targets that have left some workers feeling their “brains are being burned.”
Tiktok has rejected the “baseless” claims, stating the job cuts were part of a “wider global reorganisation” as the platform shifts towards increased automation and artificial intelligence (AI) for content moderation. However, whistleblowers have expressed concerns that AI systems are not yet ready to replace human moderators, warning the changes could pose a “real risk to the lives of Tiktok users.”
The moderators claim the “stressful” and “high pressure” environment, where employees are “pitted against each other,” has driven some to skip breaks in order to meet “arbitrary” performance targets. One said she had been forced to seek help from a neurologist for headaches due to the workload.
Lawyers have given Tiktok a month to respond to the letter, with the social media giant facing the choice of entering negotiations or fighting the claims in an employment tribunal. The case has been described as “really important” for the safety of users, as content moderators are the first line of defence against harmful content online.