Justice Mathews Nduma Nderi of the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi, Kenya, has dismissed contempt of court charges against Meta Platforms, Inc., maker of Facebook and other social media platforms. The charges were raised after the company allegedly failed to pay dozens of content moderators who had been prematurely laid off by a contractor, as reported by People Daily here.
In this legal wrangling involving more than 180 content moderators, the aggrieved party sought the court’s intervention to compel Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to pay Sh10 million per day retroactive to early March. They allege that this was when Zuckerberg flouted court orders. The moderators accused the company of unjust termination due to their participation in union-organizing activities. They also alleged that after their unionization efforts, Meta’s two subsidiaries blocked them from seeking similar roles. More detail on these allegations can be found here.
As part of their job description, content moderators often traverse the most disturbing corners of the internet, filtering through a relentless influx of unsettling content, including extreme violence, child pornography, and terrorist propaganda. A court filing in early March disclosed that continuous exposure to this content has led several moderators to deal with mental health issues, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Consequently, the moderators sought a court order compelling Meta to provide medical, psychological, and psychiatric care.
Meta has faced similar allegations in the past, with claims that the company did not properly recognize and compensate a certain group of workers who perform essential, and often arduous tasks on the company’s behalf. More information about this can be found here. However, Meta still hasn’t issued any public statement regarding the matter.
For more detail on this story, head over to the original coverage on the JURIST.