TikTok Replaces Human Content Moderators with AI, Cutting Jobs Worldwide

German TikTok workers have organised fresh strikes in protest of widespread layoffs in the company’s safety and trust division. As part of a broader strategy the firm has been implementing across offices worldwide, the social media giant has announced intentions to dismantle its entire Berlin moderation section, which is in charge of eliminating damaging content, and transfer the work to artificial intelligence and outside contractors.

Berlin Moderation Team Faces Complete Shutdown

According to German media reports, the relocation will result in the loss of 150 jobs. In recent weeks, the trade union that represents the employees has pressed TikTok for negotiations.

Union Response to TikTok Job Cuts

The union issued the company a list of demands, including severance pay for impacted employees and prolonged notice periods of up to a year, according to Kalle Kunkel, ver.di’s representative for the Berlin-Brandenburg region. TikTok hasn’t responded as of yet. In essence, they replied, “We don’t want to talk to you,” Kunkel recalled. “We went on two strikes after that, but nothing has changed.”

40% Reduction of German Workforce

The Berlin moderating staff caters to the approximately 32 million active users who speak German. Despite having offices in multiple locations in Germany, TikTok’s major base is the capital, where it employs about 400 people.

Its local workforce would be reduced by nearly 40% if the trust and safety workers were cut. The proposed cuts are intended to “streamline workflows and improve efficiency”, according to TikTok spokesperson Anna Sopel, who also emphasised that “we remain fully committed to protecting the safety and integrity of our platform.”

Like teams throughout the world, Germany’s trust and safety team is responsible for making sure videos don’t contain offensive material like violence, pornography, false information, or hate speech, or they don’t break corporate policies. The union claims that each moderator examines up to 1,000 videos every day, frequently with the assistance of AI techniques.

Global Impact — Netherlands, Malaysia, and Beyond

TikTok has been reducing its trust and safety activities worldwide over the past year, gradually substituting automated technology for human moderators. The entire 300-person content moderation crew in the Netherlands was fired by the firm in September.

AI vs Human Moderators — The Debate Over Safety

It revealed intentions the following month to install AI-powered systems in Malaysia to replace about 500 moderators. Significant numbers of trust and safety employees throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were being trimmed, according to a February Reuters story.

The German layoffs come after Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, testified before the US Congress in 2024 and promised to raise funding for safety and trust. He pledged more than $2 billion at the time to help a team of more than 40,000 individuals worldwide.