Berlin: Tiktok-employees going on strike against massive job cuts
German Tiktok censors have trained an AI that is now taking their jobs. Verdi wants to talk, Tiktok doesn't. There was a warning strike on Wednesday.
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For the first time, employees of a social network are going on strike in Germany. The reason is that Tiktok Germany in Berlin is facing massive job cuts. According to the United Services Union (Verdi), Tiktok's entire German Trust and Safety department and part of the so-called Live Operations department are to be dissolved. The tasks will be taken over by artificial intelligence developed in the People's Republic of China and external service providers.
Around 150 jobs will be lost in Berlin as a result. Because the Chinese company Tiktok refuses to negotiate with employee representatives, those affected went on strike on Wednesday. Verdi also sees this as pioneering work for fair working conditions in the industry itself.
Tiktok's live operations are responsible for communication with video uploaders, while the trust and safety department is responsible for censorship. The employees have to constantly block videos that show sexualized violence against children, suicides, terrorist propaganda, cruelty to animals and other brutal excesses of violence. The work is extremely stressful, so AI censorship would definitely have advantages – if it works.
Algorithm blocks rainbow flags
"AI is already making dangerous mistakes today because it doesn't understand contexts," Verdi quotes the works council, "This work cannot simply be outsourced or automated." Example: The Tiktok algorithm repeatedly marks posts with rainbow flags as "controversial" or "hate speech". "They were automatically removed or hardly ever played out," the union points out.
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"What is being sold as technical progress is a double blow for the employees: they have trained the AI themselves – now they are to be replaced," writes Verdi. However, the work is "systemically relevant", as Tiktok could hardly operate legally in Europe without filters. "So it's not just about individual fates. But: many of those affected do not have a German passport. Dismissal would also mean the loss of their residence status."
The colleagues are demanding longer notice periods and severance pay amounting to three years' salary. According to Verdi, Tiktok does not even want to negotiate this. heise online has asked Tiktok for comment.
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