Moderators facing abuse at Meta’s new ‘secret site’ – report

Lawyers say they are preparing a legal challenge to stop the exploitation of workers in Ghana by the US tech giant and its French subcontractor

Meta has moved its African content moderation operations to a “secretive” new site in Ghana’s capital, Accra, following lawsuits in Kenya over alleged worker abuse, according to a joint report by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and The Guardian.

In the investigation published on Sunday, the London-based media organizations said around 150 people are being employed under “worse” conditions at the Accra facility, where they review Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger content, including graphic violence and child sexual abuse material.

The staff have reported severe mental health issues, including suicide attempts, depression, and insomnia, due to pressure to work at a “grueling pace in order to meet a series of opaque targets,” with minimal psychological support. The probe found that the workers in the West African country are barred from disclosing their work – even to family members – under threats of dismissal or deportation, particularly for those from conflict-affected regions.

The Facebook parent company shut its content moderation hub in Kenya early in 2023 after its third-party contractor, Sama, announced it would no longer provide services. The relocation followed a series of lawsuits filed in the East African country by content moderators, who accused Meta and Sama of union-busting, unfair dismissals, and exposing workers to harmful material without providing adequate psychological support.

READ MORE: Meta faces $2.4bn legal action in Africa over war content

According to TBIJ, the tech giant began moving its operations to Ghana in early 2024, outsourcing content moderation to Teleperformance, a French multinational with a history of labor rights controversies. Last year, Teleperformance acquired Majorel, the firm to which Meta had attempted to shift its operations in Kenya after Sama withdrew.

“For months, it has also refused to name the company that won the lucrative contract to provide the content moderators who deal with disturbing content on its platforms. Such secrecy works to shield tech companies like Meta from accountability,” the Bureau stated.

Read more

Foxglove, a legal non-profit supporting cases against Meta in Nairobi, has announced that it is preparing to sue the US company and the subcontractor for exploiting content moderators in Ghana.

“After the atrocious treatment of Facebook content moderators we exposed in Kenya, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I was wrong. These are the worst conditions I have seen in six years of working with social media content moderators around the world,” Martha Dark, Foxglove’s co-executive director told TBIJ.

“It’s very disappointing to see that once again, a Big Tech company appears to have chosen the path of denying workers their due,” Ghanaian lawyer Carla Olympio also said.

Teleperformance has denied the claims, saying it has “robust people management systems and workplace practices, including a robust wellbeing program staffed by fully licensed psychologists to support our content moderators throughout their content moderation journey.”