Meta Platforms—Meta faced $52M US settlement and $1.6B Kenya lawsuit over content moderator PTSD and trauma
Meta has faced multiple lawsuits from content moderators suffering severe psychological trauma. In 2020, Facebook paid $52 million to settle a US class-action (Scola v. Facebook) from moderators employed through Accenture and other contractors who developed PTSD. In September 2024, a Kenyan court ruled Meta can be sued in local courts, with 144 former moderators (81% diagnosed with severe PTSD) seeking $1.6 billion in compensation. Additional lawsuits from Ghana moderators allege depression, anxiety, insomnia, and substance abuse from reviewing extreme content. Accenture employed more than a third of Meta's ~15,000 content moderators.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Labor Conditions | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.443 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Kenyan court ruled Meta can be sued over content moderator PTSD, 144 moderators seeking $1.6B
In September 2024, a Kenyan Court of Appeal ruled that Meta can be sued in Kenyan courts over the psychological trauma suffered by content moderators. 144 former moderators, 81% diagnosed with severe PTSD, are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation. This follows the 2020 US $52M class-action settlement (Scola v. Facebook) over similar claims.