Kenyan court rules Meta can be sued over moderator layoffs
A Kenyan court ruled on Friday that Facebook's parent company
Meta, opens new tab could be sued in the East
African nation over the dismissal of dozens of content moderators by a
contractor.
Last year the content moderators sued Meta and two
contractors, saying they lost their jobs with Sama, a Kenya-based firm
contracted to moderate Facebook content, for trying to organise a union.
They said they were then blacklisted from applying for the
same roles at another firm, Majorel, after Facebook changed contractors.
Out-of-court settlement
talks between the moderators and Meta collapsed in October last year.
The case could have implications for how Meta works with
content moderators globally. The U.S. giant works with moderators around the
world tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform.
Friday's decision by the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier
ruling by a Kenyan labour court in April
2023 that Meta could face trial over the moderators' dismissals, which
Meta appealed.
It also upheld a separate ruling in February
2023 that Meta could be sued in Kenya over alleged poor working
conditions, which Meta also appealed.
"The upshot of our above findings is that the appellants'
(Meta's) appeals ... are devoid of merit and both appeals are hereby dismissed
with costs to the respondents," the judges at the Court of Appeal said in
their ruling.
Meta and Majorel did not immediately respond to Reuters
requests for comment. Sama said it was reviewing the decision and would provide
a statement soon.
Meta has previously responded to allegations of a poor working
environment in Kenya by saying it requires partners to provide industry-leading
conditions.
Majorel has said it does not comment on pending or active
litigation.
"Meta being sued in Kenya is a wake-up call for all Big
Tech companies to pay attention to the human rights violations taking place
along their value chains," said Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer for the content
moderators.
Foxglove, a British tech rights group supporting the
moderators' case, said Meta had run out of road.
"We are excited the roadblocks are finally gone – and
will support the 185 (contractors) every step of the road to the courtroom,”
Foxglove director Martha Dark said.
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