Kenya court finds Meta can be sued over moderator layoffs

By Ammu Kannampilly and Humphrey Malalo

NAIROBI (Reuters) -A Kenyan court ruled on Friday that Facebook's parent company Meta could be sued in the East African nation over the dismissal of dozens of content moderators by a contractor.

Last year the content moderators sued Meta and two contractors, saying they lost their jobs with Sama, a Kenya-based firm contracted to moderate Facebook content, for trying to organise a union.

They said they were then blacklisted from applying for the same roles at another firm, Majorel, after Facebook changed contractors.

Out-of-court settlement talks between the moderators and Meta collapsed in October last year.

The case could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The U.S. giant works with moderators around the world tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform.

Friday's decision by the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling by a Kenyan labour court in April 2023 that Meta could face trial over the moderators' dismissals, which Meta appealed.

It also upheld a separate ruling in February 2023 that Meta could be sued in Kenya over alleged poor working conditions, which Meta also appealed.

"The upshot of our above findings is that the appellants' (Meta's) appeals ... are devoid of merit and both appeals are hereby dismissed with costs to the respondents," the judges at the Court of Appeal said in their ruling.

Meta and Majorel did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Sama said it was reviewing the decision and would provide a statement soon.

Meta has previously responded to allegations of a poor working environment in Kenya by saying it requires partners to provide industry-leading conditions.

Majorel has said it does not comment on pending or active litigation.

"Meta being sued in Kenya is a wake-up call for all Big Tech companies to pay attention to the human rights violations taking place along their value chains," said Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer for the content moderators.

Foxglove, a British tech rights group supporting the moderators' case, said Meta had run out of road.

"We are excited the roadblocks are finally gone – and will support the 185 (contractors) every step of the road to the courtroom,” Foxglove director Martha Dark said.

(Reporting by Ammu Kannampilly and Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning and Aurora Ellis)