Facebook sued for failing to protect content moderators from PTSD
Content moderators reviewing child abuse, beheading and other traumati c content on Facebook have been diagnosed with mental health conditions, raising concerns about the nature of their work and the support given to them. A California lawsuit describes content moderators such as lead plaintiff Selena Scola having to handle 'broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide, and murder' on a daily basis. The suit describes the impact on moderators as severe and includ es anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It also accused Facebook of failing to provide a safe workplace for content moderators and doing little to safeguard their mental health. ➕ May 2020. Facebook agreed to pay USD 52 million to over 10,000 current and former contract workers in sites in California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, with each worker receiving USD 1,000 in cash and those diagnosed with psychological conditions related to their work as Facebook moderators eligible medical treatment and damages up to USD 50,000 per person. System 🤖 Facebook content moderation system Developer: Meta/Facebook; Cognizant ; Pro Unlimited Country: USA Sector: Technology Purpose: Moderate content Technology: Content moderation system Issue: Accountability; Employment Legal, regulatory 👩🏼⚖️ Scola v Facebook settlement Joseph Saveri Law Firm. Facebook Content Moderators’ Safe Workplace Litigation Research , advocacy 🧮 Pinchevski A. (2022). Social media’s canaries: content moderators between digital labor and mediated trauma
- Date it happened
- 2018-09-01
- Organisation involved
- Facebook; Cognizant; Pro Unlimited
- Product, system or model
- Facebook content management system
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