UNIONS and campaigners are urging MPs to stop TikTok “sacrificing online safety” as the company plans to axe over 400 jobs from its London office.

The redundancies target the Trust and Safety Team, responsible for protecting users from harmful content such as deep fakes, toxicity and abuse, with online safety campaigners warning this would “effectively end content moderation in London.”

In an open letter to science, innovation and technology committee chairwoman Chi Onwurah today, the TUC’s Paul Nowak and CWU’s Dave Ward joined online safety advocates in calling for an investigation into the implications for both users and workers’ rights.

Up to 30 million TikTok users in Britain, including one million children under 13, could face heightened risks if AI systems replace human moderators.

The letter warns: “These safety-critical workers are the front line of protecting users and communities from deep fakes, toxicity and abuse. 

“TikTok is already subject to an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office for misuse of children’s data.

“And now it is looking to replace skilled UK workers with unproven AI-driven content moderation and with workers in places like Kenya or the Philippines who are subject to gruelling conditions, poverty pay and precarity as they toil for Big Tech’s billionaires.”

The CWU said the cuts were announced just eight days before workers were due to vote on union recognition with the United Tech and Allied Workers.

The letter says: “There is no proper business case for making these redundancies. 

“TikTok’s revenues are booming — with a 40 per cent increase for the UK and Europe alone. 

“Yet the company has decided to cut corners. We believe this decision is an act of union-busting — at the cost of workers’ rights, user safety and the integrity of online information.”

Mr Nowak called the plans “reprehensible,” saying: “These devastating cuts will put millions of Brits — many of them children — at risk of accessing harmful content online.”

A TikTok content moderator said: “TikTok’s decision to drastically cut human moderation comes at the expense of our jobs and your safety.

“Despite TikTok’s best efforts to smash the union and silence our voices, they won’t succeed.

“We know organising is the only way to hold TikTok to account, protect jobs, and make the internet a better place.”

TikTok was approached for comment.