"You know things are messed up when a Big Tech company fights accusations of union-busting by insisting it was only AI layoffs. That's where things stand after a group of fired TikTok moderators in the UK filed a legal claim with an employment tribunal. The Guardian reported on Friday that around 400 TikTok content moderators who were unionizing were laid off before Christmas."
"They are exposed to the child sex abuse material, executions, war and drug use. Their job is to make sure this content doesn't reach TikTok's 30 million monthly users. It is high pressure and low paid. They wanted input into their workflows and more say over how they kept the platform safe. They said they were being asked to do too much with too few resources."
Around 400 TikTok content moderators in the UK were dismissed a week before a scheduled vote to establish a collective bargaining unit. The moderators sought better protection against the personal toll of processing traumatic content rapidly. The moderators have accused TikTok of unfair dismissal and violating UK trade union laws. The Communication Workers Union described moderation work as highly dangerous, citing exposure to child sexual abuse material, executions, war and drug use, and criticized low pay and staffing. TikTok denied union-busting, described the cuts as part of an AI-driven restructuring, and said 91 percent of transgressive content is now removed automatically.
Read at Engadget
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