30 ex-Meta moderators sue for Sh3.6bn over trauma, exploitation claims

Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta. [Courtesy]

It is a rare case where a Judge is given a front-row glimpse of what transpires in a workplace. This is despite the data being jealously guarded through non-disclosure agreements and servers claimed to be in Germany and Britain.

A dozen pieces of lewd content are attached with links revealing the reason why 30 moderators are aggrieved by the social media giant Meta’s work to keep Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram clean and train its Artificial Intelligence (AI) from data captured through Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

The case paints a horrid image of violence, nudity, and children’s sexual exploitation watched by employees outsourced by Meta in Kenya day in, day out, but hushed with a single stroke of a signature.

In this case, an employee codenamed MAE accuses Meta and labour outsourcing company Samasource Kenya EPZ of abuse, intimidation and dismissing anyone who allegedly fails to toe the line.

“The conduct of the second and third respondents (Meta and Samasource) reflects an exploitative employment and/or modern-day slavery regime characterized with coercion, intimidation, and abuse of unequal bargaining power. Such conduct is inconsistent with the constitutional guarantees of human dignity, fair labour practices and the rule of law,” their lawyer Lawrence Kiptanui argued.

MAE narrated that he had worked with Meta since 2017. He said his work was to review, classify, transcribe, annotate, label, segment, evaluate the quality of images and audio of all labelled videos.

“I wish to state that on the first day when I was allocated tasks, I wondered why the content that popped onto my screen was only sexual in nature, and I was informed that that was the task that I would be undertaking on behalf of the second respondent (Meta),” said MAE.

He claimed that this was not part of his job description. According to him, it was allegedly forced labour.

MAE further claimed that he was employed alongside 62 others. He alleged that despite the kind of work he was undertaking, there was no support from the social media giant and Samasource.

He also said that he tried to protest about the nature of work he had been given, but he was instead issued with a non-disclosure agreement which he was required to sign.

MAE alleged that the work he was required to sort included both sexual and violent content of children ranging from the age of 13 to 18 years.

According to him, all this was stored in servers in Frankfurt, Germany, where they would allegedly get the login notification. He argued that this was allegedly meant to ensure that they do not have a recourse against the two firms.

Things worsened when they were brought Meta’s smart glasses for an alleged project known as live AI. He stated that they would see the dirtiest of the world’s happenings, including bombing, gun fights, and strangling in real time.

This is when the project information leaked.

“The third respondent (Samasource) then went ahead and issued threats of confidentiality on every employee due to the leakage of the acts we were undertaking.  Aware of the consequences of not hiding the request to suspend the illegalities, the third respondent then declared our positions redundant,” he continued.

The company subsequently fired him on April 30, 2026. He claimed that the decision to part ways with him was meant to frustrate the resolution of their grievances, some of which had spilt out.

The non-disclosure agreement, which is now at the heart of the case, gagged the employees from ever disclosing any information even after the expiry or termination of its terms.

Also attached in the case are communications from Samasource’s Peter Muchiri, who insisted that the work they do for Meta required confidentiality. He was referring to a story appearing in the media. He directed them not to divulge any information about Sama to journalists, a directive echoed by Anne Peace Ndwiga on March 5 this year.

“ If any member of the media reaches out to you regarding Sama or any client-related work, please do not comment or provide any information, notify your manager immediately and copy [e-mail], forward the request without responding to the journalist or publication,” the directive from Ndwiga reads in part.

The story of MAE’s colleagues is almost similar. The second one, codenamed DHM, claimed that they were at the mercy of Samasource’s management. He narrated that in June this year, their shift hours were allegedly increased to nine hours from eight.

“I wish to state that the third respondent herein subjected us to terrible working conditions that no human being should ever be subjected to,” he stated.

From the documents that DHM presented in court, an employee has a seven-hour work schedule, with 46 minutes being for a break and 28 minutes for well-being. By January 14 this year, the working hours would increase to eight hours and 26 minutes, while the break would be reduced to 30 minutes.

Another document also filed in court appears to be the manual to train the AI. They were required to give answers which would be helpful to them, as a human user for each scenario that was presented to them.

They also attached an employee exit form, which again gagged them from disclosing any information about the company or what they were doing for five years.

“The actions of the second and third respondent were marred with illegalities, including on digital footprints. For instance, you would always get notifications that your login is in a foreign land when, in the real sense, I was logged onto the platform just here in Kenya.  We protested the manner in which the second and the third petitioner treated our concerns, which led to an invitation to a baraza whereby we were informed of our impending termination,” said DHM.

They want the court to find that the non-disclosure agreement was null and void. At the same time, the group wants the court to find that both Meta and Samasource had violated their rights to fair labour practices and human rights.

They want the court to order the two firms to pay Sh3.6 billion in compensation for the alleged violations, or Sh100 million to each of the ex-employees.

It is not the first time that Meta and SamaSource are finding themselves in court over alleged violations of employees’ rights.

A separate group of moderators moved to the labour court, claiming unfair pay for Africans working as Meta moderators and psychological strains at work.

In court documents filed before the Employment and Labour Relations Court, the moderators, who total 185, alleged that they were paid less than their colleagues working in Europe and the United States of America.

They also alleged that they did not get proper medical cover, including dedicated psychiatrists, owing to the graphic content they were to moderate.

The moderators in their case sued Meta Platforms INC, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Samasource Kenya EPZ Limited, Majorel Kenya Limited, Majorel Kenya Solutions EPZ Limited. They also listed the Attorney General, Labour and Social Security Services Cabinet Secretary and the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services.

“The work of a moderator is in itself not easy and is inherently toxic and dangerous. This is because moderators are exposed to the worst of humanity, which they must consume in order to keep the Facebook platform healthy for everyone else. Examples of the posts that they view daily include pictures and videos of people being raped and children being molested, people being slaughtered, skinned alive and others burning alive, people committing suicide or committing other forms of self-harm, a few to mention,” court papers read in part.

They alleged that those who work in other countries are paid between USD 18 and USD 20 per hour while those who work in Kenya allegedly get around USD 2.20 per hour.

Meta, in its responses, stated that it cannot be sued in Kenya. It denied being an employer.

Nevertheless, they argued that the arrangement between the social media giant and the labour outsourcing companies meant that it was actively engaged as an employer.

The court heard that a moderator gets around Sh50,000 inpatient and outpatient cover. According to the papers filed by Nzili and Sumbi Advocates, some allegedly get Sh75,000 cover.

One of the moderators, a 32-year-old Kenyan, said that he found the job on the Fuzu Website and applied.

According to him, the interview for the job was about getting to know him as a person. He claimed that he was not cautioned about what he was to encounter.

“On December 15, 2019, I received an email from Jennifer Kivuva of the third respondent informing me that I had passed the initial screening and would be progressing to the next stage, which was background checks,” he said.

He alleged that the first video he reviewed one of the first videos I reviewed involved five people who had their hands and legs tied at the back being tortured by Boko Haram militia in Nigeria.

The moderator portrayed a state of desperation for those employed. He claimed that he chose to continue working because he did not want to lose his job.

“They were asked to dig their own graves, after which they were slaughtered using machetes by the Boko Haram militia. Later, the bodies of the five men were buried in those graves that they had dug themselves. This was extremely traumatic, and it was my first day at work. I did not want to lose the job I had just started, so I decided to soldier on,” he claimed.

He also claimed that he moderated videos from the Tigray war in Ethiopia.  According to him, the work had taken a toll on his mind and stolen his joy.

“I used to be a happy and cheerful person; however, these days I am always sad and quick to anger,” the court heard.

Meta, Samasource and Majorel denied the claims. They assert that the workplace had professionals whose work was to ensure moderators’ mental health was taken care of.