Sacked Facebook moderators in Kenya sue Meta

Forty-three Facebook content moderators in Kenya are suing the social media site’s parent company Meta for unfair dismissal.

The moderators say they lost their jobs with Sama, a Kenya-based firm contracted to moderate Facebook content, for organising a union, the Reuters news agency reports.

They also say they were blacklisted from applying for the same roles at another outsourcing firm, Majorel after Facebook switched contractors.

In January, 260 content moderators working at Facebook’s moderation hub in Nairobi were told they would be made redundant by Sama, the outsourcing firm which has run the office since 2019, said Foxglove, a technology rights group that is supporting the lawsuit.

“The redundancy being undertaken is unlawful because no genuine nor justifiable reason was given for the redundancy,” the moderators said in their court petition.

Meta is yet to comment on the matter.

Last month, Meta filed an appeal in Kenya challenging a ruling which said it could be sued even though it has no official presence in the East African country.