Kenya court order puts Meta content moderation services in uncertainty

It is, however, important to note that the corporation relies heavily on thirdparty content moderators.

Read Also Meta sued over 2 billion for fueling ethnic violence in Ethiopia

Metas content moderation partners protest against judicial restrictions

While this suspension of Facebooks content moderation services makes the platform vulnerable, it is a significant setback in the fight against harmful content on social media platforms, particularly in Africa, as it is now exposing the safety and security of Facebook users.

It is also restricting both content moderator services, Sama and Majorel and endangering their revenue growth, especially as we are still in the Q2 of 2023, and it is unsure how long the court case will drag on.

TechCrunch citing a legal document it had seen, reported that Majorel is protesting against the court orders as it is prohibiting it from providing content review services to Meta, claiming that they endanger both its business continuity and the livelihoods of the 200 moderators it hired after establishing a hub in Kenya late last year.

Sama, on the other hand, whose contract was supposed to expire on March 31st, will end up costing the company a significant amount of money in wages by keeping the moderators with no job for as long as the court case continues, which will also have an impact in the companys financial operations and annual budget plans.

While it could not change its employment terms since interim court orders barred it from conducting any reviews, TechCrunch reported that it had already placed its content moderators on paid leave beginning April 1st.

This came after the firm shut down its content moderation division to focus on labelling work (computer vision data annotation), and the court prevented Sama from firing more than 200 moderators at its hub in Kenya.

It is unclear who is currently assisting the tech giant in minimizing content that incites hate, misinformation, and violence on its platforms, particularly in African nations, as the content review process for Meta, Facebooks parent company, in Africa is being stalled.

This order extends to Majorel, Metas new content moderation partner.

According to a Techcrunch report, the Kenyan Court has pushed for Metas excontent moderation partner, Sama, to continue the contract until the case before the court is determined.

This case began last year when Meta was sued for 2 billion in Kenyas High Court for allegedly encouraging hate speech, inciting ethnic conflict, and failing to moderate content in Eastern and Southern Africa.