Facebook’s parent company Meta is facing strong pushback from human rights groups over its handling of a whistleblower who alleges in a Kenyan court case that the company benefits from exploitative working conditions and has engaged in human trafficking, forced labor and union-busting.
In an open letter published late Wednesday, more than 80 human rights groups, activists, and tech industry luminaries called on Facebook to drop its attempt to impose a gag order against South African whistleblower Daniel Motaung. Lawyers for Facebook and Sama called for a gag order on Motaung at a court hearing in late June, arguing that he risked prejudicing the case by speaking to the press.
Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.
Motaung was paid $2.20 per hour as a content moderator for Sama, an outsourcing firm contracted by Facebook to screen posts from across sub-Saharan Africa for harmful content. He was fired in 2019 after attempting to start a union. Motaung accuses both Sama and Meta of union-busting and human trafficking, among other charges. He’s now suing both companies in a Nairobi court.
The open letter called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez to “respect Daniel’s right to speak his truth” and “immediately cease your attempts to impose a gag order.” It also calls on both Facebook and Sama to support unionization in their content moderation workforces.
Facebook argues that it never employed Motaung and that it should therefore be struck as a defendant from the case. Sama denies mistreating workers and says it supports unionization.
Mercy Mutemi, Motaung’s lawyer, argued in court that Motaung and his legal team were already complying with Kenya’s rules about discussing ongoing court cases. She said that any gag…
Source : time
