A former moderator contracted by Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming poor working conditions for contracted content moderators. The claim violates the Kenyan constitution.
Also, the petition filed against Meta’s local outsourcing company Sama, alleges that workers moderating Facebook posts in Kenya have been subjected to unbearable working conditions. The said conditions include union-busting, irregular pay, violations of workers’ privacy and dignity, and inadequate mental health support.
The group through one representative filed a lawsuit seeking financial compensation. Also, an order that outsourced moderators have the same health care and pay scale as Meta employees. The group equally wants unionization rights to be protected, and an independent human rights audit of the office.
“We take our responsibility to the people who review content for Meta seriously and require our partners to provide industry-leading pay, benefits and support. We also encourage content reviewers to raise issues when they become aware of them and regularly conduct independent audits to ensure our partners are meeting the high standards we expect.” said A Meta spokesperson.
Sama refused to issue comments before seeing the lawsuit happens. However, it had previously rejected claims that the recruitment process was opaque, that its employees were unfairly paid, or that its mental health benefits were inadequate.
“This could have ripple effects. Facebook is going to have to reveal a lot about how they run their moderation operation,” said Odanga Madung, a fellow at the Mozilla Foundation.
Facebook content moderation
Thousands of moderators review social media posts globally. This is a way that regulates posts that could depict violence, nudity, racism, or other offensive content.
Many work for third-party contractors rather than tech companies.
Initially, Meta had already faced scrutiny over the working conditions of its content moderators.
Last year, a California judge approved an $85 million settlement between Facebook and more than 10,000 content moderators.
The workers had accused the company of failing to protect them from psychological injuries resulting from their exposure to graphic and violent imagery.
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However, Meta dismissed the claims, stating it contracted a third party vendor to employ the moderators. Nevertheless, it pledged to offer safer working environments.
The Kenyan lawsuit was filed on behalf of Daniel Motaung from South Africa, recruited in 2019 to work for Sama in Nairobi.
Disturbing video contents
Motaung claims he was not given details about the nature of the work reviewing Facebook posts before his arrival.
The first video Motaung moderated was a beheading. The disturbing content piled up, but Motaung says his pay and mental health support were insufficient.
“I have been diagnosed with severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Motaung told said. “I am living …a horror movie.”
According to Motaung’s lawyers, Meta and Sama created a dangerous and degrading working environment. The workers were not given the same protections as employees in other countries.
“If in Dublin, people can’t look at harmful content for two hours, that should be the rule everywhere,” Motaung’s lawyer Mercy Mutemi said. “If they need to have a psychologist on call that should apply everywhere.”
After a short stay at Sama, Motaung tried to mobilise union formation, so as to advocate for the company’s roughly 200 workers in Nairobi. However, he was soon fired.
Motaung and his lawyers believe he was fired due to unionization attempt.
An investigation published by Time magazine in February was the first to reveal Motaung’s experience.
The company has not yet commented on Motaung’s claims.