A landmark ruling in Kenya has paved the way for a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, for the dismissal of dozens of content moderators by a contracted firm.
The Court of Appeal upheld earlier rulings by Kenyan labor courts, finding that Meta can be held accountable for the actions of its contractors.
The court dismissed the US company's appeal against earlier rulings, finding that the company could face trial over the moderators' dismissals and alleged poor working conditions.
"Meta being sued in Kenya is a wake-up call for all Big Tech companies to pay attention to the human rights violations taking place along their value chains," said Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer representing the content moderators.
The lawsuit stems from allegations that content moderators employed by Sama, a Kenyan firm contracted by Meta to moderate Facebook content, were fired for attempting to unionize. They further alleged that they were subsequently blacklisted from applying for similar roles at another contractor, Majorel, after Meta switched providers.
*Meta is banned in Russia as an extremist organization