Court rules Meta can be sued over moderator sackings

A Kenyan court has ruled that US social media giant Meta can be sued over poor working conditions and layoffs, paving the way for a legal battle in the East African nation.

The Nairobi Court of Appeal ruling on Friday concerns the sacking of content moderators for Facebook by Sama, a Meta contractor.

The first suit was filed more than two years ago by Daniel Motaung, a South African content moderator who worked in Nairobi for Sama, which was tasked with removing violent or hateful content from Facebook between 2019 and 2023.

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Motaung says the working conditions were poor, the salary payments were irregular and alleges he was sacked for trying to form a union.

Another case, filed in March last year, groups 185 content moderators who were sacked by Sama.

They allege they were then blacklisted from applying for the same roles at another firm, Majorel, after Facebook changed contractors.

They are demanding compensation for insufficient salaries, and for damage to their mental health.

Settlement talks between the moderators and Meta collapsed in October last year.

In both cases, Meta had argued that it could not be sued in Kenya where it had no activities and was not a direct employer.

But the Court of Appeal on Friday upheld an ruling by a Kenyan labour court in April 2023 that Meta could face trial over the layoffs.

Meta, which can file an appeal at the Supreme Court, has not reacted so far.

Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer for the sacked content moderators, said the ruling was a "significant decision".

"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," Mutemi said.

James Irungu, one of the 185 former content moderators, added: "We've been waiting for this verdict for over a year, and while we know there's still a long way to go, today marks a significant victory."

However, the appeals court turned down a decision by the labour court that the sackings be suspended and that the moderators paid salaries until the affair is resolved.

Meta content moderators working in over 20 sites around the world treat over two million posts daily, according to statistics furnished by Meta to AFP in June last year.

Meta is being targeted in another case in Nairobi in which a Kenyan NGO and two Ethiopians accuse the platform of inaction over hate content online.