TikTok threatened with legal action after UK safety moderators allege unlawful redundancy linked to union activity

TikTok is facing potential legal action in the UK following significant cuts to its online safety and content moderation teams, a move that has sparked concerns about worker rights and user safety. The social media company announced in August that more than 400 roles would be eliminated, with some moderation tasks replaced by artificial intelligence and others outsourced overseas. Two UK-based moderators have now sent a formal legal letter to TikTok, alleging unlawful detriment and automatic unfair dismissal.

The claim centres on the timing of the redundancies, which were announced just days before employees were due to vote on forming a trade union. According to the moderators and their representatives, this constitutes unlawful union-busting. Unlawful detriment occurs when an employer treats workers unfairly for exercising protected employment rights, such as participating in union activity or whistleblowing.

The legal action is being supported by the United Tech & Allied Workers union, the non-profit legal group Foxglove, and law firm Leigh Day. Foxglove’s head of legal, Stella Caram, argued that TikTok’s actions contradict its earlier commitment to expand moderation teams, noting that the company had promised to hire hundreds of additional moderators only months before the layoffs.

Concerns about user safety have been echoed by whistleblowers and by one of the claimants, Julio Miguel Franco, who argues that AI cannot adequately replace trained human moderators. Internal TikTok documents reportedly show that the company planned to retain its London-based moderators through at least the end of 2025, citing growing complexity and volume of content requiring human oversight.

TikTok has denied the allegations, stating that the redundancies were part of a global reorganisation aimed at evolving its Trust and Safety operations through technological advancements. The company insists that user safety will not be compromised and that new moderation tools are introduced gradually with human oversight. However, MPs and parliamentary committee chairs have expressed serious concerns, warning that reduced human moderation could pose real risks to users’ lives.