TikTok, the social media platform, announced on Friday that it is laying off hundreds of employees from its global workforce, with a significant number of these job cuts occurring in Malaysia. This decision aligns with the company's strategic shift towards increased reliance on artificial intelligence for content moderation.

According to two sources familiar with the situation, over 700 positions were eliminated in Malaysia. However, TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, later clarified that the actual number of affected employees in the country is fewer than 500.

The layoffs primarily impacted employees engaged in content moderation, who were notified of their terminations via email late Wednesday. The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

In response to inquiries from Reuters, TikTok confirmed the layoffs, indicating that several hundred employees worldwide would be affected as part of a broader initiative to enhance its content moderation processes.

The company utilizes a combination of automated systems and human moderators to oversee the content shared on its platform.

ByteDance employs over 110,000 individuals across more than 200 cities globally, as stated on its official website.

Additionally, the technology firm is planning further job reductions next month as it seeks to streamline some of its regional operations, according to one of the sources.

A TikTok spokesperson stated, "We are implementing these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our global operating model for content moderation."

The company plans to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety initiatives this year and aims to enhance efficiency, with 80% of content that violates guidelines now being removed by automated technologies, the spokesperson added.

The layoffs were initially reported by The Malaysian Reserve, a business news portal, on Thursday.

Job reductions are taking place as international technology companies encounter heightened regulatory scrutiny in Malaysia. The government has mandated that social media operators obtain an operating license by January as part of its initiative to address cyber offenses.

Earlier this year, Malaysia noted a significant rise in harmful content on social media and called on companies, including TikTok, to enhance their monitoring efforts on these platforms.