Confessions of Facebook moderators
Facebook has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. They went through a lot of trouble due to their privacy policies. But this time, they are mistreating their own employees. Will this tyranny ever end?
Let’s Break it down
After the release of The Verge’s shocking article, Facebook came under a lot of pressure. Again. Got a hard hit on its reputation. Again. Even after facing severe scrutiny and being part of multiple scams and scandals, they didn’t mend their ways. The aforementioned article gives a sneak peek into the lives of Facebook employees, especially Content Moderators, and what they deal with.
Also read: Should Facebook unfriend Mark Zuckerberg? And Facebook attempts to be better
Working with Facebook sounds glamorous, right? It is for the most part. For moderators, it is taking home slightly more than minimum wage, anxiety and trauma. Facebook pays them $15 an hour, or about $28,000 a year which is a tad bit more than minimum wage in many states. While they are paid more than minimum wage criteria, the job exposes moderators to content that causes anxiety and trauma that stays with them even after they leave their jobs.
When Casey Newton from The Verge asked employees to describe the workspace they said, “it was perpetually teetering on the brink of chaos. It is an environment where workers cope by telling dark jokes about committing suicide, then smoke weed during breaks to numb their emotions.”
“It’s a place where, in stark contrast to the perks lavished on Facebook employees, team leaders micromanage content moderators’ every bathroom and prayer break; where employees, desperate for a dopamine rush amid the misery, have been found having sex inside stairwells and a room reserved for lactating mothers; where people develop severe anxiety while still in training, and continue to struggle with trauma symptoms long after they leave; and where the counselling that Cognizant offers them ends the moment they quit — or are simply let go.”
That’s not it, one of the employees started bringing a gun to work, others reported developing PTSD-like symptoms but are not eligible to get support from Facebook or Cognizant, Muslims were denied their prayer break, they even began to embrace the fringe viewpoints of the videos and memes they are supposed to review.
They review approximately 400 posts and are questioned if the number goes less than average. If one employee is reviewing about 1,500 posts, 50–60 will be selected by Facebook to be audited by another employee. Which will ultimately add to the accuracy score. They need to maintain an accuracy target of 95% which is very difficult to achieve.
Employees working as moderators are not even treated with the same respect as other Facebook employees. They even have to sign NDA to protect themselves and their identities. They are not even hired by Facebook directly, third-parties hire them. It is like they don’t even exist. They are working in anonymity and in terrible working conditions.
After this issue coming to light, will Facebook take a stand and take care of their employees? Or will they just hope the matter leaves the public domain and dies down? However Facebook reacts, let us at least make things easier for their moderators. How? Just stop spreading venom on social media. Make the life of a content moderator just a little more joyous.
