Meta negotiations with moderators in Kenya over labor dispute collapse

Out of court negotiations between content moderators, Meta and Sama, the social giant’s former content review partner in Africa, over a labor dispute before a Kenyan court have collapsed.

This emerged today when the court was briefed on the outcome of the mediation, coming after it allowed the parties to settle the case out of court in August. The suit will now proceed to Kenya’s employment and labor relations court.

Over 180 moderators are suing Sama and Meta for unlawful dismissal. The moderators claim that Meta and Sama failed to issue them with redundancy notices per the Kenyan law and that their terminal dues were hinged on signing nondisclosure agreements. They are also suing Majorel, Meta’s other content moderation partner in Africa, for alleged discrimination. The moderators claim that Majorel blacklisted Sama’s ex-employees.

The attorney representing the moderators told the court that the mediation was not successful as they “felt there was no genuine effort from the respondents [Meta, Sama and Majorel] to reach an out of court settlement.”

Meta declined to comment.

Sama spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement that it was “disappointed that the mediation did not lead to a settlement.”

“We have been successful in coming to a mutually agreed resolution with about 60 moderators outside of the mediation process, demonstrating our commitment and willingness to find an amicable, beneficial solution . . . Sama continues to be in full compliance with all court orders. All moderators with valid contracts have been/are being paid as per the court orders,” it said.

The moderators are seeking compensation for “distress caused,” and for Sama to reverse the redundancy notice. They are demanding that Meta set up a system of mental health support akin to what is provided to employees at its hubs globally.They also want Meta, Sama and Majorel compelled to acknowledge their right to unionize. It is likely that their demands were not matched, leading to the collapse of the talks.

Sama has in the past maintained that it adhered to Kenya’s labor laws while conducting the layoffs. Meta has in previous proceedings maintained that it was not the moderators’ employer — to which a Kenyan judge disagreed, saying the moderators did Meta’s work, using its technology, and adhered to its performance and accuracy metrics.

Sama laid off 260 content moderators at its hub in Kenya after the venture-backed company closed its content moderation arm to concentrate on labeling work (computer vision data annotation).

Meta and Sama have also been sued by Daniel Motaung, a South African, for labor and human trafficking, unfair labor relations, union busting and failure to provide “adequate” mental health and psychosocial support. Motaung alleges he was laid off for organizing a 2019 strike and trying to unionize Sama’s employees.

Ethiopians have also sued Meta in Kenya for failing to employ adequate safety measures on Facebook, which, in turn, fueled the deadly Tigray war that left over 500,000 people dead.

Updated at 12:31 pm (ET) Monday, 16 October 2023, to include Sama’s response.