It is no secret the most content moderators walk away with emotional scarring for life. Being an internet police is the toughest job in the world. You’re exposed to disturbing imagery of beheadings to child pornography and animal torture and human trafficking.
A group of Irish content moderators is seeking damages for personal injuries caused by exposure to graphic content while working on behalf of Facebook in Dublin. Among the plaintiffs is one of Facebook’s highly-paid employees.
Back in September, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board gave a group of former Facebook moderators in Ireland the permission to serve proceedings against the social network giant in the High Court.
Former Content Moderators File a Lawsuit
The moderators, employed by CPL Resources, a third-party company that provides content moderations services to Facebook, suffered psychological trauma due to poor working conditions and lack of proper training for viewing some of the horrific content seen online.
The lawsuit may snowball as other moderators hear of the case and come forward with their own harrowing tales. Facebook is currently employing 15,000 low-paid workers moderating its content via third-party companies. These workers are in Ireland, Spain, Latvia, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S., among others.
Facebook is also facing a lawsuit in California, where two former moderators are seeking class-action status.