Kenya's President Wades Into Meta Lawsuits | TIME
Can a Big Tech company be sued in Kenya for alleged abuses at an outsourcing company working on its behalf?
That’s the question at the heart of two lawsuits that are attempting to set a new precedent in Kenya, which is the prime destination for tech companies looking to farm out digital work to the African continent.
The two-year legal battle stems from allegations of human rights violations at an outsourced Meta content moderation facility in Nairobi, where employees hired by a contractor were paid as little as $1.50 per hour to view traumatic content, such as videos of rapes, murders, and war crimes. The suits claim that despite the workers being contracted by an outsourcing company, called Sama, Meta essentially supervised and set the terms for the work, and designed and managed the software required for the task. Both companies deny wrongdoing and Meta has challenged the Kenyan courts' jurisdiction to hear the cases. But a court ruled in September that the cases could each proceed. Both appear likely to go to trial next year, unless the Kenyan Supreme Court intervenes.
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Meta declined to comment on ongoing litigation. Sama did not respond to requests for comment. It has previously called the allegations “both inaccurate and disappointing.”
If successful, the lawsuits could enshrine a new precedent into Kenyan law that Big Tech companies – not just their outsourcing partners – are legally liable for any wrongdoing that happens inside subcontracted facilities. Supporters say that this will boost workers’ rights and guard against exploitative work in Kenya’s data labeling sector, which is booming thanks to growing demand for AI training data. But opponents argue that such a decision would make Kenya a less attractive place for foreign firms to do business, potentially resulting in a loss of jobs and hindered economic development.
In a sign of the cases’ significance, Kenya’s president William Ruto waded into the debate on Monday. At a town hall event in Nairobi, Ruto said he was preparing to sign a bill into law that he claimed would prevent outsourcing companies from being sued in Kenya in the future. “Those