Psychological disorders experienced by content moderators responsible for viewing shocking images must be considered an “occupational illness,” a Spanish judge has ruled in a case involving a subcontractor of Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
According to the lawyers of the employee who initiated this procedure, this is the first time that a Spanish court has recognized that a moderator's mental health problems are the result of his work monitoring violent content.
Revealed by the Catalan daily La Vanguardia, the case concerns a 26-year-old Brazilian.
He started working in September 2018 for CCC Barcelona Digital Services, a company owned by Canadian Telus International and responsible for moderating content on Facebook and Instagram.
🔴Un juez culpa a la subcontracta de Meta de los trastornos de un filtrador de contenido
Los daños psiquiátricos de un moderador son accidente laboral, dice una sentencia
✍ @nachoorovio y @gsaura
👉https://t.co/cePWBzW4vS pic.twitter. com/dhD3NdUMJ9
— La Vanguardia (@LaVanguardia) January 18, 2024
According to the judgment published this week, and which AFP was able to consult, its role consisted of examining extremely violent content, showing cases of torture, beheadings of civilians, self-mutilation and suicide.
On sick leave eight months after being hired
This work, which allows the deletion of content (images, videos and comments) when they are deemed not to comply with the rules of the platforms, led the Brazilian moderator to a work stoppage eight months after his hiring, due to serious unrest.
The judgment, which cites medical reports, mentions a multitude of problems, such as anxiety attacks, nightmares, sleep problems and panic fear.
The young man, according to La Vanguardia, is still being monitored psychologically.
Ruling CCC in the wrong, the judge found that the functions performed by this employee were “the unique, exclusive and incontestable trigger” of his psychological problems.
The magistrate thus followed the analysis of the Spanish labor inspectorate, which published a damning report in May 2022 and imposed a fine on CCC for its inaction “while it was aware of the psychological problems of its workers”.
Leaders who “did not act to minimize the risk”
More than a dozen workers have decided to sue the company, according to the Brazilian employee's lawyer, Francesc Feliu, cited by Euronews.
“These are people who were once healthy and suddenly suffer from mental disorders.
Some tried to commit suicide,” he says.
“The company is trying to avoid any responsibility (…) by claiming that the mental illness suffered by the content moderators has no connection to their work.
This decision is therefore extremely important because it rejects this argument,” he stressed, specifying that he filed a criminal complaint in October against managers of the company who were, according to him, “aware of the risks to which the moderators are exposed” and have “failed to act to minimize the risk”.
Asked by AFP, the Telus International group, which bought CCC in 2020, said it was “disappointed” by the decision of the Spanish courts and announced its decision to appeal, ensuring that the “well-being” of his employees were his priority.
“The members of the team examine various contents,” assures the Canadian group, which specifies that it has hired an external health provider to support its employees on sick leave.
An Irishman filed a complaint in 2017
In 2017, an Irishman, now 50 years old, was the first European to sue a Facebook subcontractor, according to Euronews.
When Chris Gray first started working, video made up only 20% of the content he had to review, working mostly with text, photos, and some live video.
His contract as a content moderator lasted one year.
The images that still come to mind are “those of migrants tortured with a hot metal bar or dogs boiled alive”.
“I didn’t realize how much it had affected me.
It was only later that I realized that I was in a terrible state, that I was very stressed.
I couldn't sleep and became very aggressive.
If someone talked about my work, I cried afterwards,” Chris Gray told Euronews.
When he realized he could no longer cope with the situation, he tried talking to the company psychologist:
“
I filled out questionnaires saying I felt overwhelmed at work.
But it took years to get an appointment with someone.”
Like Chris Gray, 35 other content moderators complained to the Irish High Court, where Meta's European headquarters are located.
Zuckerberg's response
Three years ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: “It's not that most people see horrible things all day.
But there are some really terrible things that people have to deal with, and it's really important to make sure they have the appropriate guidance, space and opportunity to take breaks and get support what they need in terms of mental health.
“If they wanted to resolve these problems, the dynamic would be different, but for now, the only solution is the criminal route,” reacted Spanish lawyer Francesc Feliu on Euronews.