Efforts to reach an agreement in a long-standing case involving 184 Facebook content moderators in Nairobi and Meta, the platform’s parent company, have hit a snag.
These moderators, responsible for sifting through violent and disturbing content, claim they lost their jobs for attempting to form a union.
They were employed by a local subcontractor called Sama.
Sama has previously stated that it has no objections to its employees forming a union.
Meta relies on both artificial intelligence and human moderators to identify and remove problematic content on Facebook.
Many of these moderators have shared the emotional toll of their work, which involved filtering distressing content from users’ feeds.
They earned roughly $630 (£515) per month, as reported by Sama.
One moderator involved in the legal action described the distress of witnessing a video in which a man took his own life in the presence of a child.
Sama consistently maintained that it offered competitive salaries in the local context and provided mental health support.
In an interview with the BBC, Wendy Gonzalez, the CEO of Sama, denied any opposition to unionization.
When Sama terminated its contract with Meta, 260 moderators lost their jobs.
The 184 moderators bringing the lawsuit allege that their layoffs were in retaliation for complaining about working conditions and unionization efforts.
They are demanding that Meta affirm the moderators’ right to join a union and speak out about their working conditions.
The moderators also claim they were unfairly denied job opportunities at Majorel, the contractor chosen to take over moderation work in Africa after Sama’s departure.
However, Meta revealed that their collaboration with Majorel in Kenya will not proceed due to a recent court order, stemming from the ongoing legal action.
Despite this setback, Meta expressed its commitment to supporting Africa and ensuring content review in local languages.
They are exploring alternatives with partners in the region to maintain safety on their platforms.
Majorel, on the other hand, reluctantly initiated a potential redundancy process for around 200 employees in Nairobi.
Nevertheless, they remain dedicated to contributing to Kenya’s growth as a digital outsourcing hub.
Efforts to settle the dispute out of court through mediation were ordered in August, but these talks have now failed.
The legal case will continue, with the judge encouraging all parties to engage sincerely in preparation for the next hearing on October 31.
Lawyers representing the moderators accused Meta of not being fully committed to the negotiations, while supporters of the litigation, such as the Foxglove campaign group, argued that Meta’s actions had forced a return to court.
However, Meta’s lawyer contended that there had been progress in the talks.
Sama expressed disappointment that mediation did not result in a settlement.
Nonetheless, they highlighted successful resolutions with around 60 moderators, demonstrating their willingness to find mutually beneficial solutions separate from the court process.
In addition to this dispute, Meta faces other legal challenges in Kenya, including allegations that its algorithm contributed to the spread of hate and violence on social media during Ethiopia’s civil war, as well as claims of poor working conditions brought by former moderator Daniel Motaung.
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