In March this year, the Kenyan employment court ordered Meta to restore the jobs of content moderators who were previously dismissed for attempts to unionise. Now, the court decreed that Meta is responsible for the mental health care of all content moderators in its employ.
During the latter case, Sama workers provided testimony of the harrowing content they were repeatedly exposed to without any psychological shield, content they claimed that have left many traumatised and desensitised to graphic content, nudity and self-harm.
The first case was filed after the firing of Daniel Motaung, who had accused Meta of untenable working conditions and union-busting. However, if the ruling in the second case stands up in higher courts, given Meta's plan to appeal, the case sets precedence for the working conditions of content moderators across all tech giants, now and in the future.