Facebook shouldn’t silence whistleblowers: human rights groups

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is facing strong pushback from human rights groups for its handling of a whistleblower who alleges in a Kenyan court case that the company benefits from exploitative working conditions and has engaged in the human trafficking, forced labor and union repression.

In an open letter published late Wednesday, more than 80 human rights groups, activists and tech industry luminaries called on Facebook to drop its attempt to impose a gag order against South African whistleblower Daniel Motaung. Lawyers for Facebook and Sama sought a gag order against Motaung at a court hearing in late June, arguing that he risked damaging the case by speaking to the press.

Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.

Motaung was paid $2.20 an hour as a content moderator for Sama, an outsourcing company hired by Facebook to filter posts from across sub-Saharan Africa for harmful content. He was fired in 2019 after trying to form a union. Motaung accuses both Sama and Meta of anti-unionism and human trafficking, among other charges. He is now suing both companies in a Nairobi court.

The open letter called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez to “respect Daniel’s right to tell his truth” and “immediately cease their attempts to impose a gag order.” He also calls on Facebook and Sama to support unionization in their content moderation workforces.

Facebook argues that it never employed Motaung and therefore he should be removed as a defendant in the case. Sama denies mistreating workers and says he supports unionization.

Mercy Mutemi, Motaung’s lawyer, argued in court that Motaung and his legal team were already complying with Kenya’s rules on discussing ongoing court cases. She said any gag order would be a violation of Motaung’s right to freedom of expression.

Read more: Facebook asks judge to ‘crack the whip’ in attempt to silence black whistleblower

The signatories of the open letter come from the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe. They include the rights groups Global Witness, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Free Press and SumOfUs. The people who signed the letter include Professor Shoshana Zuboff, author of The era of surveillance capitalism, author and internet freedom activist Cory Doctorow; and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

“Meta and Sama publicly affirm that they defend freedom of expression and support global movements that fight for equality and racial justice,” the letter says. “It is impossible to square such statements with his actions in Kenya and with his treatment of content moderation workers globally.”

“It appears that Meta and Sama would rather shut Daniel up than address his accusations in a meaningful way,” the letter says.

The letter also argues that there is a discrepancy between how Facebook has treated Motaung, who is black, and how it has treated white accountability-seekers in the past. He points out that Haugen, who leaked thousands of pages of company documents last year, and that he is white, has been allowed to speak freely. “It seems to us that [Facebook] he is making a racist calculation that he can safely try to silence Daniel without causing a public relations crisis,” the letter says.

The letter adds that Sama, which calls itself an “ethical artificial intelligence” company and claims to have lifted more than 50,000 people out of poverty, “professes to champion decent work for all, but has instead treated its own workers with a callous disdain.” […] It couldn’t be clearer that both Facebook and Sama view Daniel, and workers like him, as expendable.”

Motaung first blew the whistle in a TIME investigation in February, where he described how he was fired after leading an effort to unionize his colleagues, some of whom made as little as $1.50 an hour. His jobs include watching videos of murders, rapes and child abuse. Motaung has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of his work.

Read more: Inside the African exploitation of Facebook

“Daniel and the hundreds of colleagues he champions are an integral part of Facebook’s global workforce,” the letter says. “His tireless work examining the most toxic and harmful content on the platform, including beheadings and child abuse, hour after hour, day after day, is what keeps the company going. Their experiences should be taken seriously and they should be encouraged and supported to speak out, not fired from their jobs and gagged.”

The next hearing in Motaung’s case is scheduled for July 27. At the last hearing, the judge told Facebook and Sama’s lawyers to file contempt proceedings against Motaung and his lawyers if they believed they had evidence to back them up. Facebook did not respond to a question about whether they plan to initiate such proceedings.

At the next hearing, the judge is expected to decide whether Facebook should be removed from the case or remain as a defendant. He can also decide whether four other content moderators, seeking permission to testify anonymously in support of Motaung, should be allowed to do so.