Two sources familiar with the matter earlier told Reuters that more than 700 jobs were slashed in Malaysia. TikTok later clarified that less than 500 employees in the country were affected.

The employees, most of whom were involved in the firm’s content-moderation operations, were informed of their dismissal by email late on Wednesday, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.

In response to queries, TikTok confirmed the lay-offs and said that several hundred employees were expected to be affected globally, as part of a wider plan to improve its moderation operations.

TikTok employs a mix of automated detection and human moderators to review content posted on the site.