Tech

Kenyan Facebook content moderator sues Meta over deplorable working conditions

Published

2 years ago

May 10, 2022

A Kenyan content moderator who once worked for Facebook owner, Meta Platforms Inc, on Tuesday, filed a lawsuit over the alleged poor working conditions for contracted content moderators which violates the Kenyan constitution.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Daniel Motaung who was recruited in 2019 from South Africa to work for Sama in Nairobi. Motaung said he was not given details about the nature of the work reviewing Facebook posts before his arrival and the first video he remembers moderating was a beheading.

As the disturbing content piled up causing him mental health issues. Motaung says his pay and mental health support were inadequate.

“I have been diagnosed with severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Motaung said. “I am living …a horror movie.”

The petition which was also filed against Meta’s local outsourcing company in the country, Sama, alleges that workers moderating Facebook posts in Kenya have been subjected to unreasonable working conditions including irregular pay, inadequate mental health support, union-busting, and violations of their privacy and dignity.

The lawsuit, among other things, is seeking financial compensation, an order that outsourced moderators have the same health care and pay scale as Meta employees, order to protect unionization rights, and an independent human rights audit of the office.

Daniel Motaung

A Meta spokesperson who reacted to the lawsuit said the company takes responsibility for the people who work for it seriously contrary to the suit.

“We take our responsibility to the people who review content for Meta seriously and require our partners to provide industry-leading pay, benefits and support.

“We also encourage content reviewers to raise issues when they become aware of them and regularly conduct independent audits to ensure our partners are meeting the high standards we expect.”

Sama, on the other hand, said it had previously rejected claims that its employees were paid unfairly, that the recruitment process was opaque, or that its mental health benefits were inadequate.

The lawsuit’s specific requests for action are more wide-ranging than those sought in previous cases and could go beyond Kenya to other African countries, according to Odanga Madung, a fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, a US-based global nonprofit dedicated to internet rights.

“This could have ripple effects. Facebook is going to have to reveal a lot about how they run their moderation operation,” Madung said.

Meta has already faced scrutiny over content moderators’ working conditions and last year, a California judge approved an $85 million settlement between Facebook and more than 10,000 content moderators who had accused the company of failing to protect them from psychological injuries resulting from their exposure to graphic and violent imagery.

Globally, thousands of Facebook moderators review social media posts that could depict violence, nudity, racism or other offensive content and many of them have reported mental torture just by going through some of the contents.

Related Topics:Facebook Featured Kenya Lawsuit Meta

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Tech

Kenya Revenue Authority partners UK to streamline customs valuation process

Published

20 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), has struck a partnership with the United Kingdom (UK) to streamline the Customs valuation process which will make it more efficient, transparent, consistent, and predictable.

KRA’s Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Department, Ms. Lilian Nyawanda, in a statement on Monday, said the partnership will reduce disputes, ensure faster clearance of goods for businesses, and create a level playing field.

“This process is also expected to boost government revenues, resolve issues of trade based money laundering, and contribute to safeguarding consumers from unsafe and counterfeit products,” she said.

“As part of this enhancement, KRA with funding channelled through TradeMark Africa, by the UK, trained over 2200 people involved in import of goods.

“The two month-long activity convened customs staff, clearing agents, and traders from Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Busia, Malaba, Namanga, and Moyale to improve their understanding of valuation rules and enhance their awareness on recent updates to the system,” she said.

British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan, who also spoke on the partnership, said:

“Kenya is at the heart of East African trade. We want that trade to operate at maximum efficiency, to benefit businesses and consumers across Kenya and East Africa.

“The UK and Kenya are working together in partnership to provide high quality infrastructure, which will deliver growth for Kenya and the region. We go far when we go together,” Wigan said.

The project supports the delivery of the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership, an ambitious five-year agreement delivering mutual benefits for the UK and Kenya, including job creation and economic growth, Wigan added.

Tech

Nigerian retail startup Renda secures $1.9m funding to drive expansion

Published

2 days ago

May 5, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Nigeria’s retail startup, Renda, has announced securing a $1.9 million pre-seed round of equity and debt funding to enable it enhance its offerings and drive expansion.

Renda, a technology solution startup that simplifies order fulfillment and retail distribution for businesses in Africa, secured the funds from Ingressive Capital which led the round, with participation from Techstars Toronto, Founders Factory Africa, Magic Fund, Golden Palm Investments, Reflect Ventures, and Vastly Valuable Ventures.

The startup’s co-founder and CEO, Ope Onaboye, who made the announcement, said they plan to utilize the funds to pursue its plans of expanding into more cities in Nigeria and Africa.

“Our vision at Renda is to become the largest and most trusted fulfillment partner for e-commerce and major businesses across Africa,” Onaboye said.

“Since inception, we have been privileged to work with some of the largest companies across manufacturing, FMCG, Agriculture and e-commerce sectors, enabling them to scale across Nigeria.

“We are grateful for the investors who have bought into the Renda vision and decided to partner with us as we build the future of commerce on the continent.

“I’m excited to see how we harness the power of technology to simplify and optimise order fulfillment and retail distribution for thousands of businesses across the continent,” he said.

Launched in January 2021 by Onaboye and Bimbo Onaboye, Renda allows businesses to access on-demand flexible storage across Africa, track and manage their inventory across all locations, process large volumes of orders for same-day delivery, manage and track all deliveries in real-time, and also manage and reconcile cash collections.

The platform is already powering much of Africa’s e-commerce sector, with customers including Omnibiz, MarketForce, Kyosk, Wabi, Jumia, and other major brands, according to the CEO.

He added that Renda will use the funding to technologically enhance its offerings, drive expansion to more cities in Nigeria and East Africa, and grow its partnership network across all active markets.

So far, the startup has empowered over 500 businesses across 15 states in Nigeria, while it expanded into Kenya last year.