A law firm, Nzili and Sumbi Advocates had threatened, a few weeks ago, to sue Meta, and its main subcontractor for content moderation in Africa, Sama, over alleged unsafe and unfair work conditions at the latter’s hub in Kenya. A claim Meta has distanced itself from.
A Meta spokesperson, Ben Walters, said Meta asks contractors like Sama to not overload or pressure their staff.
But, a complete cover story on the supposed underground secrets reportedly occurring in Sama’s office in Nairobi, Kenya, and the inhumane treatment of its African contract staff was published in Time Magazine in February 2022.
The report says, “In a drab office building near a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, nearly 200 young men and women from countries across Africa sit at desks glued to computer monitors, where they must watch videos of murders, rapes, suicides, and child sexual abuse.
“These young Africans work for Sama, which calls itself an “ethical AI” outsourcing company and is headquartered in California.”
According to the majority of content moderating employees’ interviews with TIME, despite the demanding nature of their job, Sama failed to provide emotional and psychological support.
“The work that we do is a kind of mental torture, whatever I am living on is hand-to-mouth. I can’t save a cent. Sometimes I feel I want to resign. But then I ask myself: what will my baby eat?” one employee, who currently works as a Facebook content moderator for Sama, told TIME.
Daniel Motaung, a former Facebook content moderator said to TIME, that Sama dismissed him wrongly in 2019 for standing up for his right and for attempting to start up a union. According to Daniel, he got deeply angry at the work culture, pay rate and nonchalant attitude of the staff management.
He recounted how he and other contract employees who had gone through similar ordeals instinctively established a small union. He started a WhatsApp group, which swelled to over 100 members. The union grew stronger, and they prepared for a strike by submitting a petition to the Sama staff management.
