TikTok to stop using China-based content moderators for foreign content

The company has asked its content moderators who monitor overseas content to other departments within its parent company, Bytedance.

TikTok has given its local workers a couple of weeks to make the switch. (REUTERS)

TikTok has been a subject of a number of controversies in the past due to its Chinese roots. The app has been accused of spying and being a threat to the national security by the US. Now, the company has said that it will stop using China-based content moderators for monitoring content pertaining to foreign countries.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal (via Engadget), the company has said that it will stop using China-based moderators to monitor overseas content. It has also said that it will shift that work to the moderators located outside China.

"We are working to find job options within the company for the China-based employees," TikTok spokesperson Josh Gartner said as per the report.

The company has asked over 100 moderators working on overseas content to either find jobs within its parent company, Bytedance, or leave. Teams local to given areas have been given 'few weeks' to make the switch.

The move to switch to region-based content moderators is likely to help TikTok to distance itself from its Chinese roots. It is also likely to help the company and its moderators filtering overseas content with cultural understanding. Notably, TikTok content moderators working on foreign content are familiar with the cultures of the content they are moderating. However, having region-based content moderators is expected to help the company with the cultural nuances.

Separately, TikTok has also opened a Transparency Centre in the US in a bid to boost transparency and allow external experts to oversee its operations.