Kenyan judge rules Meta not in contempt for unpaid Facebook moderators

The judge stated that Meta did not deliberately breach the court order, and the ruling does not conclude the ongoing case, with legal proceedings continuing.
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In a recent decision, a Kenyan judge has ruled that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is not in contempt of court for failing to pay content moderators laid off by subcontractor Sama. The moderators, terminated in March, alleged unfair dismissal and filed a lawsuit against Meta.

The judge stated that Meta had not deliberately breached the court order mandating payment. The ruling does not conclude the ongoing case, and legal proceedings will continue, with the moderators’ legal counsel having 45 days to amend their contempt of court petition.

This comes amid increasing legal troubles for Meta in Kenya, including a $1.6 billion lawsuit accusing the company of contributing to the civil war in Ethiopia due to alleged failure to remove hate speech on Facebook.

Why does it matter?

Despite this recent development, in June, the employment court in Kenya ruled that Meta could potentially be held legally responsible as the primary employer of outsourced content moderators in Nairobi. While concerns about exploitative conditions remain, this decision holds significance for East Africa. This region continues to attract tech firms because of its youthful, tech-savvy population and convenient time zone.