By Winnie Kamau
Nairobi, Kenya: This year’s Labour day was crowned in a unique way as over 150 content moderators resolved to form a Union. The Content Moderators who are working on the world’s biggest and fastest growing apps from Facebook, TikTok, and ChatGPT met today at the inaugural Africa’s Summit for Content Moderators.
The moderators from all four tech giants convened to share experiences and goals and form a united front against alleged exploitation and abuse.
The move builds on earlier efforts by Facebook moderators that were earlier quashed. In 2019, a moderator called Daniel Motaung and over 100 colleagues at Facebook’s Nairobi moderation hub, had started the Alliance with a bid to negotiate the unfair conditions including pay and mental health care. This alliance failed to kick off as their pleas were ignored and it is alleged Daniel, its leader, was forced to leave Kenya.
The tables turned in 2022, when a Time magazine exposé lifted the lid on exploitation of African Facebook moderators at Sama Nairobi. This kicked off a wave of legal action and organizing that has culminated in two judgments against Meta and planted the seeds for today’s mass worker summit.
Legal action – the seeds of the Content Moderators Union
The first case against Meta was a Constitutional case filed by Motaung in the spring of 2022, against Meta and Sama. The allegations include exploitation, union-busting and wage theft and seeks reforms to Facebook’s factory floor.
A second $2bn case was filed in December 2022, connecting Motaung’s alleged exploitation to real-life harm, saying that Facebook’s moderation failures and viral design which are alleged to have caused death and mayhem in the Ethiopian war and across the African continent.
It is said that Facebook and its outsourcers then retaliated, announcing in January a mass sacking of all 260 moderators at Facebook’s Nairobi hub. A third case was filed this March 2023 by 184 petitioners and has successfully blocked this mass firing on the basis it is tantamount to intimidation and union-busting. Two Nairobi judges have ruled that Facebook can be sued in the Kenyan courts over the labor allegations.
“I never thought, when I started the Alliance in 2019, we would be here today – with moderators from every major social media giant forming the first African moderators union. There have never been more of us. Our cause is right, our way is just, and we shall prevail. I couldn’t be more proud of today’s decision to register the Content Moderators Union” said an emotional Daniel.
“We know our worth. Social media does not exist without us. By coming together today we feel something powerful, hope. Our employers thought they could get rid of us because we spoke up, but they only made us resolve to fight. Withholding our pay and threatening people’s immigration status doesn’t just show contempt of Kenyan justice, it disrespects us. But we won’t take it lying down. We will not rest until justice is done” said Kauna Malgwi, a Facebook moderator.
It was incredible seeing the gathering as people should know that it isn’t just Meta but people need to know at every social media firm there are workers who have been brutalized and exploited.
“But today I feel bold, seeing so many of us resolve to make change. The companies should listen, but if they won’t, we’ll make them. And we hope Kenyan lawmakers and society will ally with us to transform this work” said James Oyange, a former TikTok moderator working with Majorel and worker organizer.
Richard Mathenge, former ChatGPT moderator and worker organizer noted “For too long we, the workers powering the AI revolution, were treated as different and less than moderators. Our work is just as important and it is also dangerous. We took an historic step today. The way is long but we are determined to fight on so that people are not abused the way we were.”
The summit was organized with the help of German nonprofit Superrr Lab and UK based organization Foxglove which is a non-profit that fights to make tech fair for everyone.
“It takes a village to solve a problem, but today the Kenyan moderators formed an army. From TikTok to Facebook, these people face the same issues. Toxic content, no mental health care, precarious work, these are systemic failures in content moderation. So we’re especially proud to see such a huge cross-company group come together to say enough! The forthcoming Content Moderators Union made history today – and they are just getting started. We hope their example inspires their colleagues doing similar work” explained Martha Dark, a Director at Foxglove.
“Moderators have faced unbelievable intimidation in trying to exercise their basic right to associate. Today they have made a powerful statement: their work is to be celebrated. They will live in fear no longer. Moderators are proud of their work, and we stand ready to offer the necessary support as they register the trade union and bargain for fair conditions” noted Mercy Mutemi of Nzili and Sumbi Advocates, counsel to the moderators and legal advisor.
