Kenyan content moderators sue Meta for “union-busting”

A rights group announced on Monday, March 20 that Facebook content moderators in Kenya are suing Facebook’s parent corporation Meta and two outsourcing businesses for wrongful redundancy.

The 43 petitioners claim that Sama, a Kenyan company contracted to regulate Facebook content, fired them for creating a union. They also claim that once Facebook moved contractors, they were barred from applying for the same positions at another outsourcing firm, Majorel.

Meta filed an appeal in Kenya last month, contesting a verdict that said it may be sued in a separate complaint brought by a moderator over alleged terrible working conditions, despite having no official presence in the east African nation.

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The court cases may have ramifications for how Meta interacts with content moderators worldwide. The U.S. corporation employs thousands of moderators from across the world who are responsible for vetting graphic content posted on its site.

Meta, Majorel, and Sama did not respond to calls for comment immediately.

Foxglove stated in a statement that 260 content moderators working at Facebook’s moderation hub in Nairobi were informed in January that they will be laid off by Sama, the outsourcing agency that has managed the office since 2019.

According to the court case, the moderators accuse Meta of telling Majorel not to hire any moderators previously worked by Sama.

In their application, the moderators stated, “The redundancy being implemented is illegal because no legitimate or valid rationale has been provided.”

“The moderators have been given contradictory and illogical explanations for their redundancy.”