Kenyan Court's Landmark Ruling: Meta Faces Trial in Content Moderators' Case

A Kenyan court ruled that Meta, Facebook's parent company, can be sued in Kenya over the dismissal of content moderators. The moderators, who used to work for Sama, a contractor, were dismissed for attempting to organize a union. This ruling has significant implications for Meta's global operations.

A Kenyan court ruled on Friday that Meta, Facebook's parent company, can be sued in the East African nation over the dismissal of dozens of content moderators by a contractor.

Last year, the content moderators filed a lawsuit against Meta and two contractors, alleging they were terminated from their roles at Sama, a Kenya-based firm, for trying to organize a union and were subsequently blacklisted from applying for similar roles at another firm, Majorel.

The case, which originally had out-of-court settlement talks collapse in October, holds significant implications for Meta's global operations as the company collaborates with moderators worldwide. The Court of Appeal's decision upholds previous labor court rulings that Meta could face trial for the moderators' dismissals and alleged poor working conditions.

Meta, along with its contractors Sama and Majorel, declined immediate comment to Reuters. Meta has previously claimed its partners provide industry-leading conditions, while Sama and Majorel have respectively stated their adherence to Kenyan law and policy of not commenting on active litigation.

Lawyer for the content moderators, Mercy Mutemi, described the ruling as a wake-up call for Big Tech to address human rights violations in their value chains.

(With inputs from agencies.)