More than 1,100 employees based in Nairobi are set to be laid off their jobs by Sama, which provides content moderation services for Meta, making a significant shift in social media giant’s global operations.
The layoff which affects 1,108 workers, comes amid changes in how Meta handles content moderation across its platforms: Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has resulted in the terminated its contract with the Nairobi office.
Sama, which operates in several African countries, has built a reputation around the ethics of AI and digital work. In a statement, the company said it remains committed to supporting the affected employees with medical coverage, wellness resources, living wages and counseling services.
Meta says the move reflects a wider trend among tech of companies re-evaluating their datasets to train learning algorithms that meet Meta’s news feeds and safety measures.
The move is to intensifying scrutiny over working conditions in the content industry, which has faced criticism for low pay, psychological strain and limited protections for workers.
