Facebook tried to dodge former moderator Daniel Motaung’s case in Kenya. It failed.
Big news: earlier today a Kenyan judge ruled that Facebook is a “proper party” in Daniel Motaung’s legal case. This means Facebook can’t dodge the legal challenge against worker exploitation and abuse at their Nairobi content moderation hub.
Daniel Motaung is an ex-Facebook moderator at Facebook’s African moderation hub in Nairobi. He is taking Facebook and their outsourcing company Sama to court aiming to end the exploitation and union-busting of content moderators in Kenya. Facebook had tried to have the case dismissed by arguing that Facebook has no registered office in Kenya and does not operate in Kenya, despite their content moderation hub in Nairobi and millions of users in Kenya.
Today the judge declined to remove Facebook from the proceedings, clearing the way for the next stage in the case against the tech giant. This is great news for Daniel—now it means that his case will continue. Foxglove will continue to support Daniel throughout his legal battle and to fight for Facebook to end its exploitation of content moderators.
Daniel wanted to pass on a message to Foxglove supporters:
“I want to thank everyone who has stood with me so far. Today’s news is positive, but we have a long road ahead in our battle for justice. Taking this case against such a wealthy and powerful opponent is tough, and it means a lot to know there are people around the world who are on my side.”
This is a milestone. For years, tech giants like Facebook have earned huge profits by exploiting users – and workers – around the world. We’ve been supporting content moderators like Daniel since day one – so to have a Kenyan judge rule that Facebook must answer to Kenyan justice sends a serious signal that no tech giant should be above the law.
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