"TikTok moderators have accused the social media company of oppressive and intimidating union busting after it fired hundreds of workers in the UK, beginning the process just before they were due to vote on forming a union. The moderators wanted to establish a collective bargaining unit to protect themselves from the personal costs of checking extreme and violent content, and have claimed TikTok is guilty of unfair dismissal and breaching trade union laws."
"John Chadfield, the national officer for tech workers at the Communication Workers Union, which represented about 250 of the affected moderators, said of the legal action: This is holding TikTok to account for union busting. He added: Content moderators have the most dangerous job on the internet. 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."
About 400 content moderators in London were dismissed shortly before a scheduled vote to form a union, and three former workers have lodged a legal claim alleging unfair dismissal and breaches of trade union law. Moderators sought a collective bargaining unit to address the personal costs of reviewing extreme and violent material and to seek input on workloads and safety procedures. The Communication Workers Union represented roughly 250 affected moderators and described the work as high pressure, low paid, and exposing workers to child abuse material, executions, war and drug use. TikTok says the removals were part of a global restructuring and increasing use of AI, noting 91% of transgressive content is now removed automatically.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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