By Ebi Kesiena
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and 184 of its content moderators who were based in Kenya agreed Wednesday on a mediation attempt to settle out of court.
The 184 former moderators accuse Meta and its outsourcing firm, Sama, of providing poor working conditions, including inadequate mental health care, and laying them off without cause.
The 184 content moderators are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation.
According to a new consent order filed in Kenya’s Employment and Labor Relations Court, Meta and its subcontractors will have 21 days to resolve the dispute with the content moderators.
Moderators who worked for Meta’s subcontractors have previously described their work as being “tortuous” and “horrifying.” It included watching videos of children being molested and people being murdered, while being paid 60,000 Kenyan shillings, or roughly $414 U.S. dollars a month. They accused Sama of doing little to ensure post-traumatic professional counseling was offered.
Earlier this year, Sama, which left the content moderation business, laid them off.
However, Meta said its contractors are officially obliged to pay their employees above industry standard rates where they operate and provide on-site support by trained practitioners as a company spokesman said Meta could not comment on the Kenya case.
The lawsuit brought on by the content moderators in Kenya is the first of its kind outside the U.S. and could have ramifications on content moderators worldwide.
