PAULA VENNELLS has resigned from the boards of supermarket Morrisons and furniture retailer Dunelm after an IT scandal at the Post Office resulted in a huge miscarriage of justice.
During her tenure as Post Office chief between 2012 and 2019, there were reports of problems with Horizon, the Post Office's faulty IT system, which were not properly investigated during her time.
After 39 sub-postmasters were cleared of theft, fraud and false accounting by the Court of Appeal, there are now calls for the company's former bosses to be prosecuted.
Moreover, unions and victims of the scandal are demanding Vennells to give back her CBE and the more than £2.2m she received in bonuses.
After the ruling, Vennells said she would comply with the government's ongoing inquiry into the scandal.
Andrew Higginson, Morrisons chairman, said: "Paula has been an insightful, effective and hardworking non-executive director, and, on behalf of the board, I want to thank her for her significant contribution over the last five years."
Andy Harrison, chairman of Dunelm, said: "We respect Paula's decision to step down from the board and I would like to thank her for the positive contribution she has made to the business since her appointment in September 2019."
TikTok is to lay off hundreds of employees from its London office, with the bulk of the cuts affecting content moderation and security teams, according to reports estimating over 400 job losses by the Communication Workers Union. Online safety campaigners, along with TUC and CWU leaders, have urged Chair Chi Onwurah MP to investigate the impact of TikTok’s actions on UK online safety and workers’ rights.
The strategic shift is part of a broader reorganisation of TikTok's global trust and safety operations, aiming to streamline processes and concentrate operations in fewer locations worldwide. The move has prompted significant criticism from safety advocates and politicians, raising concerns about the platform's commitment to child protection and online safety.
Safety roles cut
People working in the trust and safety team are most likely to lose their jobs as part of a global restructuring that prioritises AI- assisted moderation over human oversight. TikTok is moving UK content moderation roles to Europe as it rely on AI, putting hundreds of jobs at risk despite rising regulatory pressure under the Online Safety Act.
The timing is particularly controversial given recent revelations about platform safety failures. Report from Global Witness, a not-for-profit organisation have accused TikTok of "sacrificing online safety" through these AI-driven cuts, with investigations revealing that the algorithm has directed minors toward explicit content a serious breach of child protection standards.
The Communication Workers Union and online safety professionals have urged UK MPs to investigate the restructuring, warning that job losses could expose children to harmful material. The cuts represent a fundamental shift in TikTok's operational philosophy, prioritizing cost efficiency over comprehensive content review.
TikTok's restructuring putting several hundred jobs at risk marks a significant move as it shifts to AI-assisted content moderation. While the platform claims the changes will improve efficiency, the decision has sparked debate about whether algorithmic moderation adequately protects vulnerable users. As regulators scrutinise social media platforms increasingly, TikTok's focus on automation rather than human expertise may face mounting political and regulatory challenges in the UK and beyond.
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