Mediation collapses between Meta and Kenyan moderators, rights group says

Sama Aluminium Co

16/10/2023 14:41

NAIROBI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Settlement talks have
collapsed between Facebook's parent company Meta  META.O  and
Kenyan content moderators over a lawsuit alleging unfair
dismissal, a tech rights group working with the moderators said
on Monday.      
    The 184 moderators sued Meta and two subcontractors earlier
this year after they say they lost their jobs with one of the
subcontractors, Sama, for organising a union. They say they were
then blacklisted from applying for the same roles at a second
firm, Majorel, after Facebook changed contractors.
    In August, the court asked the parties to hold out-of-court
settlement talks and said the case would proceed before it if
those failed. 
    British tech rights group Foxglove said in a statement on
Monday that the negotiations had broken down, accusing Meta and
Sama of making "very little attempt to address core issues
raised by the petitioners". 
    "The respondents were buying time and not being genuine. We
kept waiting for them to participate ... only for them to keep
asking for an extension of time and then come back every time to
refuse to take accountability," the statement quoted Mercy
Mutemi, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, as saying.   
    Meta declined to comment. There was no immediate comment
from Sama and Majorel.
    Meta has previously responded to allegations of a poor
working environment in Kenya by saying it requires partners to
provide industry-leading conditions. 
    Sama has said it has always followed Kenyan law and provided
mental health services to its employees. In August, Majorel said
it does not comment on matters involving pending or active
litigation.
    The moderators also allege that Meta is trying to terminate
their contracts in defiance of an earlier court order. A hearing
on their petition to find Meta and Sama in contempt of court is
scheduled for Oct. 31, Foxglove said. 
    Meta has also been sued in Kenya by a former moderator over
accusations of poor working conditions at Sama, and by two
Ethiopian researchers and a rights institute, which accuse it of
letting violent and hateful posts from Ethiopia flourish on
Facebook. 
    In response, Meta said last December that hate speech and
incitement to violence were against the rules of its Facebook
and Instagram platforms. 

 (Reporting by George Obulutsa
Editing by Aaron Ross and Mark Potter)
 ((george.obulutsa@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
george.obulutsa.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))