Nzili and Sumbi Advocates said Sama had infringed the rights of its Kenyan and international personnel, including health and privacy. Meta and Sama were told to follow Kenyan labour, privacy, and health regulations, and to pay their moderators more.
Meta has denied the charges in rebuttals reviewed by TechCrunch. It also denied firing former employee Daniel Motaung for leading a strike in 2019 over low wages and working conditions.
“Your client was fired due to unacceptable actions against coworkers that risked their safety. The process leading to your client’s termination was fair, unambiguous, and extensively documented; there is no basis for the claim that your client was unfairly terminated. “Your client is not entitled to compensation,” Sama’s solicitors, Bowmans, wrote to Motaung’s lawyer, Mercy Mutemi.
The law firm representing Motaung has now threatened to sue.
A Time article revealed how Sama recruited its moderators under the guise of a phone centre. The content moderators, hired from throughout the continent, only learnt about their jobs after signing contracts and moving to the centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
To combat hate, misinformation, and violence, moderators comb through social media messages across platforms, including Facebook. Among the many rules that staff must follow is not telling strangers what they do. According to the article, content moderators in Africa are paid the least. Since the exposé, Sama, a self-described ethical AI firm, has raised wages.
