Facebook loses jurisdiction appeal in Kenyan court paving way for moderators' case to proceed

Facebook's parent company Meta on Friday lost its appeal in a Kenyan labour court that ruled the company could be sued in Kenya over the mass sacking of content moderators.

The court had earlier ruled that Kenyan courts had jurisdiction over the matter, but Meta challenged the ruling on appeal.

The case filed by some 185 content moderators from different African countries who were working for a Meta contractor, Sama, in Nairobi will now proceed in the labour court, their lawyer, Mercy Mutemi, said Friday. They are seeking USD 1.6 billion in compensation.

Facebook is facing two lawsuits in Kenya, the first one filed by content moderator Daniel Motaung who alleges the company exploited him and his colleagues and damaged their mental health. The second case filed by 185 moderators challenges the termination of their employment contracts.

Facebook and Sama have defended their employment practices.

Some of the petitioners have told The Associated Press that their jobs required them to watch horrific content for eight hours a day that overwhelmed many of them while being paid 60,000 Kenyan shillings, or USD 414 a month. They accused Sama of doing little to ensure post-traumatic professional counselling was offered.

The Kenyan workers' case is supported by UK-based non-profit organisation Foxglove whose director, Martha Dark, said Meta had played “legal tricks to delay the case” and expressed hope that justice would be served.

James Irungu, one of the 185 former Facebook content moderators bringing the case, said the ruling was “a significant victory”.

An out-of-court settlement agreed on in court collapsed in October 2023 after what the moderators' lawyer termed as insincerity by Facebook.

The lawsuit is the first known court challenge of its kind against Facebook outside the United States. In 2020, Facebook agreed to pay USD 52 million to US content moderators who filed a class action lawsuit after they were repeatedly exposed to beheadings, child and sexual abuse, animal cruelty, terrorism and other disturbing content.