Facebook inflicted ‘lifelong trauma’ on Kenyan content moderators, campaigners say, as more than 140 are diagnosed with PTSD

Campaigners have accused Facebook parent Meta of inflicting “potentially lifelong trauma” on hundreds of content moderators in Kenya, after more than 140 were diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health conditions.

Campaigners have accused Facebook parent Meta of inflicting “potentially lifelong trauma” on hundreds of content moderators in Kenya, after more than 140 were diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health conditions. The diagnoses were made by Dr. Ian Kanyanya, the head of mental health services at Kenyatta National hospital in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, and filed with the city’s employment and labor relations court on December 4. The medical reports were filed to the court by legal firm Nzili and Sumbi Associates as part of an ongoing lawsuit against Meta and Samasource Kenya – an outsourcing company that was contracted to review content for the tech giant. Content moderators help tech companies weed out disturbing content on their platforms and are routinely managed by third party firms, often in developing countries. For years, critics have voiced concerns about the impact this work can have on moderators’ mental well-being. Meta declined to comment on the medical reports due to the ongoing litigation, but said that it takes the support of moderators seriously and its contracts with third-party firms set out expectations about counselling, training and fair pay. The spokesperson added that moderators are able to customise the “content review tool,” so that, for example, graphic content appears blurred or in black and white.