52 MILLION DOLLAR PRELIMINARY SETTLEMENT BETWEEN FACEBOOK AND CONTENT MODERATORS

14.05.2020

Facebook has reached a preliminary settlement with current and former content moderators who are in charge of controlling disturbing and harmful posts and contents on the platform, in order to compensate for the psychological health problems they experience due to their job. In accordance with the preliminary settlement, Facebook has agreed to pay the damage of the moderators, and provide more consultancy services.

For Facebook moderators, the process started with a lawsuit filed against Facebook in September 2018, claiming that an old Facebook moderator developed post-traumatic stress disorder due to the images of rape, murder, animal cruelty and suicide that she exposed. Later, many moderators participated in the process, claiming that Facebook did not provide them with a safe working environment.

Ultimately, Facebook has agreed to preliminary settlement terms covering 11,250 moderators working in California, Arizona, Texas and Florida since 2015. As per the preliminary settlement;

- Each moderator will be entitled to at least $ 1,000,

- If the moderator diagnosed with the post-traumatic stress disorder or any other diagnosis due to the  images he/she has been exposed  (depression, addiction, etc.), the moderator will be entitled to additional payment for treatment,

- It will also be possible to payment for the damages up to $ 50,000 in terms of moderators with qualified diagnoses, who can be presented with evidence that the injuries they have experienced is directly caused by their work within Facebook.

Apart from financial rights, it is aimed to improve the working conditions of the current content moderators. For this purpose, with the preliminary settlement, options such as providing weekly psychological support to the moderators who display disturbing content on a daily basis, access to the necessary support within 24 hours in case of a crisis and group therapy opportunities were brought.

The preliminary settlement is expected to be completed and formalized by the judge by the end of this year after completing the necessary procedures.

You can find the news about the subject here.

Should you have any queries and/or remarks, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr