Meta and Sama case in Kenya continues

Meta is currently facing two different lawsuit cases in the East Africa. The popular social media platforms parent company was sued by ex-moderator working for Sama for moderating horrific content and 187 former Sama moderators sued the company for unfairly fired and are seeking compensation. These lawsuits are still ongoing in Kenya’s Court of Appeal.

Presently, the 187 ex-content moderators seek $1.6 billion in compensation from Meta for exposure to highly disturbing contents and despite this, they were paid around KES 60,000 per month, which they felt was not sufficient compensation for the mental strain and responsibility of flagging harmful content on platforms like Facebook.

Now, these moderators are pursuing legal action over claims related to working conditions, including allegations of poor treatment, unfair labor practices, and psychological harm from the nature of their work, which involves moderating disturbing content on Facebook.

The decision means Meta can be held liable for the moderators’ treatment in East Africa’s largest economy, which could pave the way for a potential settlement after negotiations stalled last October. The ex-moderators are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation.

This decision is significant because it challenges Meta’s legal responsibility for the working conditions of its content moderators in Kenya, despitxe being a U.S.-based company. The ruling reinforces the jurisdiction of Kenyan courts over Meta's local operations and could set a precedent for other content moderators globally to seek legal recourse.

“The cases by the content moderators against Meta, Sama, and Majorel can now proceed. Facebook had argued that it was a foreign company that couldn’t be sued in Kenya,” Mercy Mutemi, an advocate representing the ex-Sama Facebook moderators, said on Friday.

Judges D.K. Musinga, Asike-Makhandia, and J Mativo said that the main dispute, which cites unfair dismissal, is still pending determination. This means the case will proceed to the trial court if a settlement is not reached.

“Whether or not the redundancy was lawful is a matter for determination during the hearing. We say no more,” the judges said.

Sama and the Moderators

Sama dismissed the moderators after they attempted to unionise. Meanwhile, the company said it has no objection to its moderators being represented by a union. The moderators had also argued that their work exposed them to disturbing content and that their monthly pay of approximately KES 60,000 was not commensurate with the amount of disturbing content they had to flag.

Sama is a global business process outsourcing company that provides data labeling and content moderation services, often outsourcing work to countries like Kenya. It partners with large tech companies, including Meta to handle tasks like content moderation, which involves reviewing and filtering user-generated content to ensure it complies with platform policies.

In the case of Meta, Sama was contracted to hire content moderators in Kenya, who were responsible for reviewing harmful and explicit content. Sama has been involved in controversies regarding the working conditions and treatment of these moderators, who claim they faced poor wages, lack of mental health support, and unfair labor practices.

Sama and Majorel have since stopped their content moderation services for Meta with the former now focusing on artificial labeling. Majorel downsize in 2023 by laying off over 200 of its employees after failing to secure Meta’s business in the year.