Meta now faces two cases in Kenya: an ex-moderator working for Sama sued the social media giant for moderating horrific content, and 187 former Sama moderators say they were unfairly fired and are seeking compensation.

Kenya’s Court of Appeal has upheld the Employment Court’s ruling allowing 187 Facebook content moderators to sue Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. 

The decision means Meta can be held liable for the moderators’ treatment in East Africa’s largest economy, which could pave the way for a potential settlement after negotiations stalled last October. The ex-moderators are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation. 

“The cases by the content moderators against Meta, Sama, and Majorel can now proceed. Facebook had argued that it was a foreign company that couldn’t be sued in Kenya,” Mercy Mutemi, an advocate representing the ex-Sama Facebook moderators, said on Friday. 

Judges D.K. Musinga, Asike-Makhandia, and J Mativo said that the main dispute, which cites unfair dismissal, is still pending determination. This means the case will proceed to the trial court if a settlement is not reached.

“Whether or not the redundancy was lawful is a matter for determination during the hearing. We say no more,” the judges said. 

Sama, a global Business Process Outsourcing organisation, dismissed the moderators after they attempted to unionise, even though Sama had claimed it had no objection to its employees being represented by a union. 

The moderators had also argued that their work exposed them to disturbing content and that their monthly pay of approximately KES 60,000 was not commensurate with the amount of disturbing content they had to flag. 

Sama and Majorel have since discontinued their content moderation business for Meta with the former now focusing on artificial labeling. Majorel laid off over 200 employees after failing to secure Meta’s business in 2023.