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Facebook quells internal revolt over grim moderator working conditions

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By John Glenday, Reporter

February 26, 2019 | 3 min read

Having weathered a storm of external criticism relating to brand safety, Facebook is now in the midst of an internal revolt with employees up in arms at the treatment of outsourced content moderators.

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Facebook quells internal revolt over grim moderator working conditions

Since the fake news scandal first erupted in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election Facebook has embarked on a massive hiring spree, recruiting 15,000 content reviewers to sift through reams of misinformation, graphic violence, terror propaganda and child porn.

These recruits are almost solely employed by third-party employment firms such as Accenture and Cognizant, sparking unease among Facebook employees about the treatment of their less fortunate colleagues.

This follows reports that some moderators have been locked in their buildings during work hours and prevented from taking personal calls – a far cry from the social media giant’s California HQ where Zuckerberg himself mingles with employees in an open plan office with a rooftop garden and abundant artwork.

In a bid to contain any rebellion Facebook’s vice president of global operations, Justin Osofsky, wrote: “Given the size at which we operate and how quickly we’ve grown over the past couple of years, we will inevitably encounter issues we need to address on an ongoing basis.”

Facebook has pledged to amend its contracts with staffing firms to ensure adequate facilities and mental health resources are provided, while it works on ways to better automate the process.

Last November Google employees staged a global mutiny in protest at their company's treatment of women.

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