Facebook Moderators Being Forced to Work Despite Coronavirus Risks

Facebook moderators have said the social media giant is risking their lives by forcing them back to the office and not letting them work from home.

Over 200 Facebook content moderators have urged CEO Mark Zuckerberg to let them work from home during the pandemic. The company outsources a lot of its moderating to companies like Accenture and CPL.

According to a Guardian article last month, the moderators at CPL had been forced to work in a Dublin office even though there was a high-tier lock down. Facebook’s own employees were granted permission to work from home instead.

“We, the undersigned Facebook content moderators and Facebook employees, write to express our dismay at your decision to risk our lives — and the lives of our colleagues and loved ones — to maintain Facebook’s profits during the pandemic,” reads an open letter written to Zuckerberg.

“After months of allowing content moderators to work from home, faced with intense pressure to keep Facebook free of hate and disinformation, you have forced us back to the office.”
The moderators request for Facebook to maximize at-home working, offer hazard pay, end outsourcing, and provide “real” healthcare and psychiatric care.

The letter, which is also addressed to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, and CPL CEO Anne Heraty, goes on to read, “Before the pandemic, content moderation was easily Facebook’s most brutal job. We waded through violence and child abuse for hours on end. Moderators working on child abuse content had targets increased during the pandemic, with no additional support.”

“Now, on top of work that is psychologically toxic, holding onto the job means walking into a hot zone. In several offices, multiple COVID cases have occurred on the floor. Workers have asked Facebook leadership, and the leadership of your outsourcing firms like Accenture and CPL, to take urgent steps to protect us and value our work. You refused. We are
publishing this letter because we are left with no choice,” the letter adds.

The letter emphasizes, “Without our work, Facebook is unusable,” the letter continues. “Its empire collapses. Your algorithms cannot spot satire. They cannot sift journalism from disinformation. They cannot respond quickly enough to self-harm or child abuse. We can.”
“Facebook needs us. It is time that you acknowledged this and valued our work. To sacrifice our health and safety for profit is immoral.”

A Facebook spokesperson stated, “While we believe in having an open internal dialogue, these discussions need to be honest. The majority of these 15,000 global content reviewers have been working from home and will continue to do so for the duration of the pandemic.”

The spokesperson added, “All of them have access to health care and confidential wellbeing resources from their first day of employment, and Facebook has exceeded health guidance on keeping facilities safe for any in-office work.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.