Meta Moderators in Ghana prepare lawsuits over effect on them of extreme content

Meta is facing a second set of lawsuits in Africa over the psychological distress experienced by moderators employed to take down disturbing social media content including depictions of murder, extreme violence and child sexual abuse.

- Rachel Hall Claire Wilmot Nairobi

Lawyers are gearing up for court action against a company contracted by Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, after meeting moderators at a facility in Ghana that is understood to employ about 150 people.

Moderators working for Majorel in Accra claim they have suffered from depression, anxiety, insomnia and substance abuse as a direct consequence of the work they do.

The allegedly grueling conditions endured by workers in Ghana are revealed in a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

It comes after more than 140 Facebook content moderators in Kenya were diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by exposure to graphic social media content. The workers in Kenya were employed by Samasource, a company that carries out content moderation for Meta using workers from across Africa. Majorel, the company at the centre of the allegations in Ghana, is owned by the French multinational business Teleperformance.