Economy
Meta Banned Facebook Owner From Kicking Out Content Moderators
Friday 02 June 2023
Hammer and Facebook owner logo dead. The social media giant has been barred from firing content managers based in Kenya. file image | Clash
Facebook owner Meta has been banned from firing more than 180 content moderators until a case is identified challenging their firing.
On Friday, Employment and Labor Relations Tribunal Judge Biram Ongaia directed Meta to suspend the layoffs announced by its former agent Samasource Kenya EPZ Ltd (Sama).
Content moderators rushed to court in March after being served redundancy notices by Sama, which allegedly split from Facebook’s parent company.
But in a ruling on Friday, Judge Ongaya ruled that Meta Platforms Inc and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd were the primary operators of content moderators operating from Nairobi.
The judge said the duplicate notices were illegal because Meta issued content moderation works. The court said the contracts must be extended for the case to be concluded.
“Defendants are hereby prohibited from terminating the content moderators’ contract, pending a hearing and determination of the petition. Defendants are also prohibited from altering the content moderators’ contractual terms in a manner unfavorable to applicants,” the judge said.
The staff initially worked for Samasource Kenya EPZ (Sama), which is contracted by Meta Platforms Inc and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, which owns Facebook.
is reading: The court ordered Sama, a Facebook partner, to continue paying the brokers
The moderators are from different countries in Africa, and have co-located Content Moderation Center in Nairobi, which serves the greater East and Southern Africa region.
is reading: Facebook employees in Kenya are struggling to save jobs
The brokers claimed that Meta had terminated their contracts and was planning to hire new people through Majorel Kenya Ltd.
Psychological health
In another win for the staff, the judge said, from recorded material, that the work they performed was inherently dangerous and directed Meta to ensure medical, psychiatric and psychiatric care was provided to them.
He also directed government agencies to review the state of the law and the safety of employees in virtual and digital work spaces, indicating areas of improvement and submitting a report to the court regarding the extent of improvement to ensure the protection of workers in these places.
Judge Ongaia also directed the government to regularize their immigration status so that they can continue to work in the country.
The 183 petitioners want the court to declare the termination illegal and order their reinstatement.
They are also seeking compensation for unfair termination of employment equivalent to twelve months gross salary, damages of up to MYS 10 million per intermediary for unfair labor practices, and an additional MYS 20 million each for violation of their rights.
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