Former Facebook content moderator says job gave her PTSD, sues company
It's alleged that Facebook failed to provide a safe working environment
By Rob Thubron,
In brief: Content moderators have a tough, unenviable job. It’s up to
them to discover and report some of the internet’s worst images and
videos. For one former Facebook worker, the alleged lack of support she
received along with the psychological trauma caused by viewing the
graphic content has caused her to develop PTSD. As a result, she is now
suing the company.
Selena Scola worked as a content moderator for Facebook contractor Pro
Unlimited, Inc. from June 2017 up until March this year. She was tasked
with identifying and removing content that violated the company’s
Community Standards, which includes hate speech, graphic violence and
self-harm images and videos, nudity and sexual content, and bullying.
First reported by Motherboard, Scola’s lawyer says the “constant and
unmitigated exposure to highly toxic and extremely disturbing images at
the workplace” resulted in her developing post-traumatic stress
disorder.
“Ms. Scola’s PTSD symptoms may be triggered when she touches a computer
mouse, enters a cold building, watches violence on television, hears
loud noises, or is startled,” the lawsuit states. “Her symptoms are also
triggered when she recalls or describes graphic imagery she was exposed
to as a content moderator.”
While Facebook says it provides "in-house" psychological and wellness
support to its moderators and addresses these concerns during staff
training, Scola's lawsuit claims the company doesn’t go far enough to
protect its workers. The class action seeks a “Facebook-funded medical
monitoring program” that would “include a trust fund to pay for medical
monitoring and treatment.”
With of thousands of current and former moderators who worked for
Facebook in California over the last three years, plenty of people could
join the class action. The social network currently has over 7500
people working to identify content that violates its policies and says
it will expand that number to 20,000.
Back in January last year, two former Microsoft employees from its
Online Safety Team sued the company over claims that exposure to extreme
material caused them to develop PTSD.
Facebook has responded to the lawsuit with the following statement:
"We are currently reviewing this claim. We recognize that this work
can often be difficult. That is why we take the support of our content
moderators incredibly seriously, starting with their training, the
benefits they receive, and ensuring that every person reviewing Facebook
content is offered psychological support and wellness resources.
Facebook employees receive these in house and we also require companies
that we partner with for content review to provide resources and
psychological support, including onsite counseling - available at the
location where the plaintiff worked - and other wellness resources like
relaxation areas at many of our larger facilities."
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