ByteDance has parted ways with a senior executive who oversaw content moderation and data labelling for its China-focused apps, according to sources and media reports, as the Beijing-based company advances content security amid Beijing’s strict censorship requirements.
Li Tong, who led the Content Quality and Data Service (CQC) team under Douyin Group, was no longer listed in ByteDance’s internal employee system, according to people familiar with the matter. Douyin, one of ByteDance’s core business units, operates several flagship products, including its namesake short-video platform – the Chinese version of TikTok – and the news aggregator Jinri Toutiao.
Li also served as deputy editor-in-chief of Toutiao, according to Chinese media outlet The Paper, which first reported the personnel change on Friday.
An employee, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters, described Li as a “very senior” employee who had been at ByteDance for many years.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Founded in 2017, the CQC team is responsible for overseeing content quality and user experience across more than 10 products. Past job descriptions for CQC described the team’s role as necessary because “some highly sensitive content cannot be spotted by machine”. In mainland China, platform operators are legally responsible for censoring content considered illegal.
