Meta workers can sue their employer, court rulesFGN News

A Kenyan labor court said in one of its rulings that employees of Metta, the company that owns Facebook, can file a lawsuit against their employer if they face unfair conditions. The court announced this decision on a legal petition by a former Meta employee.

Meta’s position against the application is that Facebook’s operations in Kenya are not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts and therefore the application filed against the company should be dismissed.

But in giving his verdict, Judge Jacob Gekiri said, “Since the petition raises some issues that are yet to be determined, it is not in the interest of this country to exclude the two respondents (names) in this case.” incorrect.”

Daniel Motong, who worked as a moderator for Facebook in Kenya, accused his former company of working employees in inappropriate conditions and taking advantage of the situation. He said that while working for Meta, he was exposed to material depicting rape, torture and beheadings, which threatened his mental health and that of many of his colleagues. .

Motong said Metta did not provide any assistance to employees regarding these issues, instead forcing its employees to work unreasonable long shifts for low wages. Motong works at Facebook’s African hub in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which is run by a company called Samsource Limited. The court will consider the next step on March 8 after Judge Jacob Gekiri’s decision on their application.

In addition to the case, Metta is also facing legal action related to the promotion of hateful content on Facebook during the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigrai region.

A case was filed against Meta in December last year by two Ethiopian researchers and a Kenyan human rights organization. According to court documents, Metta not only failed to moderate violent posts related to the dispute, but also promoted dangerous posts about it.

The petitioners claim that one such post was published before the killing of the father of one of them. They also say that Meta, the company that owns Facebook, handles content related to crises in Africa more leniently than other world crises.