Facebook’s former content moderator, Daniel Motaung, has sued Meta and its contractor, Sama, alleging that job advertisements for Facebook’s moderation work were misleading.
The ads did not warn that the work was likely to involve viewing extreme content and said “very little is given on the actual nature of the job.”
Motaung was recruited from South Africa to work for Sama in Nairobi, where much of the moderation for East and South Africa is handled.
The filings accused Sama of using a variety of terms such as “call centre agents, agent, and content moderator” to describe the roles, which were allegedly intended to “trick unsuspecting applicants” into applying for jobs as Facebook content moderators.
Meta and Sama were also accused of not providing adequate psychological support to the moderators, exposing moderators to unfair employment conditions and breaking up trade unions.
The case therefore calls for financial compensation for former and current moderators at Sama. This will ensure that current moderators at Sama and outsourced moderators receive the same health care and pay as Meta employees.