KUALA LUMPUR: TikTok's decision to reduce its workforce will not affect its operations in Malaysia, and the company is actively cooperating with local authorities, particularly in the areas of content research and screening for live sessions, says Fahmi Fadzil.
During a meeting with TikTok Malaysia on Friday (Oct 11), the Communications Minister was told that the company still employs around 3,700 people in the country, despite the layoffs affecting 481 workers.
"In fact, TikTok plans to open several new positions and increase the number of employees due to the introduction of new services, including cloud computing and data centres," he explained.
TikTok has assured that wherever it operates, it maintains a moderation team. Although the number of employees in this department has been reduced, it has not negatively impacted their operations in Malaysia or their cooperation with the police and the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
Fahmi made these comments to reporters after attending the Lembah Pantai Health Programme with IMU Cares at PPR Kerinchi on Saturday (Oct 12).
He noted that the layoffs were due to the company's increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for screening and moderating TikTok content.
"The team size reduction affected those doing manual moderation, as repetitive and manual duties are increasingly handled by AI," he said.
However, Fahmi urged TikTok to increase the number of manual moderators for content or live sessions in Chinese and Tamil, particularly during late-night hours.
"They are working on increasing the number of manual moderators, and I have also requested improvements in content monitoring protocols, especially for TikTok live sessions occurring late at night."
Fahmi highlighted that incidents of cyberbullying on TikTok live often happen at late hours like 1am or 3am, when the moderation team is not operating.
"They are aware of this shortcoming and are working to improve their operations," he added. – Bernama
