Grace Ashiru
Kenya’s Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by the Employment Court, allowing 187 Facebook content moderators to proceed with their lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. This decision holds Meta accountable for the treatment of these moderators in East Africa’s largest economy, potentially opening the door for a settlement after negotiations stalled last October. The former moderators are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation.
“The cases brought by the content moderators against Meta, Sama, and Majorel can now move forward. Facebook had claimed it couldn’t be sued in Kenya as it is a foreign company,” said Mercy Mutemi, the advocate representing the ex-Sama Facebook moderators, on Friday.
Judges D.K. Musinga, Asike-Makhandia, and J. Mativo stated that the central dispute, which involves allegations of unfair dismissal, remains unresolved. As such, the case will continue in the trial court if a settlement is not reached.
“The lawfulness of the redundancy will be determined during the hearing. We shall say no more,” the judges noted.
Sama, a global Business Process Outsourcing company, terminated the moderators after they attempted to form a union, despite Sama’s assertion that it did not oppose its employees being unionized.
The moderators also contended that their work involved exposure to disturbing content, and they argued that their monthly salary of approximately KES 60,000 was insufficient compensation for the amount of distressing material they were tasked with moderating.
Both Sama and Majorel have since ended their content moderation services for Meta. Sama has shifted its focus to artificial labeling, while Majorel, after losing Meta’s business in 2023, laid off over 200 employees.
