TikTok is implementing layoffs within its global trust and safety division, which is responsible for content moderation, as part of a restructuring effort, according to three sources familiar with the situation reported on Thursday.
Two of these sources indicated that Adam Presser, the head of operations for the app and supervisor of the trust and safety unit, distributed a memo to employees on Thursday regarding the layoffs.
The layoffs commenced on the same day for teams located in Asia, as well as in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as noted by two sources.
TikTok has not yet provided a response to requests for comment.
This decision comes amid ongoing uncertainty regarding TikTok's future. The widely used short video platform, which is accessed by nearly half of all Americans, experienced a temporary shutdown last month, prior to the enactment of a law on January 19 that mandated its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to either divest the app due to national security concerns or face a potential ban.
In January of the previous year, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress alongside Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders from the tech and media sectors during a hearing where lawmakers criticized these companies for not adequately safeguarding children from rising threats of sexual exploitation on their platforms.
In response to inquiries from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, TikTok's CEO stated that the company planned to invest over $2 billion in trust and safety initiatives.
In October of last year, the company laid off hundreds of employees from its global workforce, including a significant number in Malaysia, as it shifted its focus towards increased utilization of AI in content moderation.
TikTok claims to employ 40,000 trust and safety professionals globally. Reuters has not yet been able to determine the full extent of these layoffs.