<
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/16/sama-ceo-regrets-firm-took-on-facebook-moderation-work-kenya-staff-allege-exposure-graphic-content>
"The chief executive of a company contracted to moderate Facebook posts in east
Africa has said she regretted taking on the work, after its staff said they
were left traumatised by graphic content on the social media platform.
The US outsourcing firm Sama is facing a number of legal cases brought by
Kenya-based employees, who alleged being exposed to graphic and traumatic
content such as videos of beheadings, suicide and other material at a
moderation hub.
Sama’s chief executive, Wendy Gonzalez, told the BBC that the company, which
has an office in Nairobi, would no longer take on work that involved moderating
harmful content.
“You ask the question: ‘Do I regret it?’ Well, I would probably put it this
way. If I knew what I know now, which included all of the opportunity, energy
it would take away from the core business I would have not entered [the
agreement],” she said.
Sama began moderating the Facebook material in 2019 and Gonzalez said it never
represented more than 4% of its overall work.
A Kenyan court ruled in February this year that a case brought against Facebook
by a former Sama content moderator could go ahead.
Daniel Motaung, who was hired as a Facebook content moderator by Sama in 2019,
filed a lawsuit against the two companies last year, alleging he had been
exposed to graphic and traumatic content at work without adequate prior
knowledge or proper psychosocial support – which he said left him with
post-traumatic stress disorder.
He also claimed he was unfairly dismissed after trying to unionise his
co-workers to fight for better conditions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
