Facebook Reaches $52M Settlement After Moderators Experience PTSD

UPDATE: September 2020, the Facebook moderator class action settlement website is now active. Find out more about your rights by clicking here.

A $52 million settlement has been reached in a Facebook class action lawsuit filed by moderators alleging the social network giant ignored workplace safety and allowed content moderators to see thousands of graphic images.

According to the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement, each Class Member will receive a single payout of $1,000 that can be used towards medical diagnostic screenings.

Also, Facebook has agreed to business practice enhancements whereby Facebook moderators will have more control over how they view content which will help mitigate the potential effects of viewing graphic content.

The Facebook moderator class action lawsuit claims that Facebook should be held liable for psychological trauma and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that moderators have developed while viewing graphic and offensive pictures and videos.

According to the plaintiffs, some Facebook users post content depicting child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, suicide, and murder. According to the class action, Facebook moderator jobs review these posts and decide whether or not they are suitable for the social networking platform.

The plaintiffs say that Facebook developed workplace safety to protect Facebook moderators from this type of workplace trauma. Some of these safeguards include providing Facebook moderators with mental health counseling and other mental health support, altering the size and resolution of the images, and training moderators to recognize the symptoms of PTSD.

The original complaint in this class action lawsuit was filed in October 2018 by Selena Scola who alleges that Facebook and independent contractor Pro Unlimited Inc. did not follow proper procedures to protect content moderators from the side effects of viewing graphic images.

Scola said that her PTSD symptoms have continued beyond her work for Facebook and can be triggered by events such as touching a computer mouse, seeing graphic content on TV or recalling graphic content that she saw during her Facebook moderator job.

According to the Facebook moderator class action lawsuit, Scola said Facebook requires its content moderators to work under conditions that cause and exacerbate psychological trauma. The lawsuit goes on to say that Facebook violated California law by requiring its content moderators to work in dangerous conditions that could cause psychological harm.

Besides the $1,000 that each Class Member is going to receive, Facebook moderators can potentially receive up to $50,000 in additional damages, depending on the amount in the settlement fund, according to the statement by the plaintiff’s attorneys.

According to an article from Forbes, the settlement will cover more than 11,000 current and former Facebook moderators across California, Arizona, Texas and Florida. In addition, the article goes on to mention that some moderators who work for the IT firm Cognizant in Arizona had developed fringe views after viewing extreme right wing and conspiracy theory content. Some of these moderators, some making only $28,000 per year, turned to smoking marijuana to numb their emotions.

According to an article in The Washington Post, this case could potentially open the doors for more lawsuits that could be filed against other social network companies that hire moderators, such as Twitter and YouTube. The article goes on to say that Facebook has ramped up the number of moderator jobs that they have due to widespread abuse by Russian operatives and drug peddlers.

The Washington Post article also mentions that those suffering from PTSD have garnered other types of trauma including paranoia, frequent nightmares and inability to sleep.

“This case is about protecting the people who protect the public. Content managers are human beings. They are not disposable. The psychological trauma and cognitive and social disorders these workers face are serious. But they are being ignored, and the problems will only grow worse—for the company and for these individuals. It’s our hope and goal that Facebook recognizes its obligations to these workers and creates a safer workplace for them,” Class counsel said in an online statement. 

The settlement Class is defined as “All individuals who performed content moderation work for Facebook in California, Arizona, Texas, or Florida as an employee or subcontractor of one or more of Facebook’s vendors from September 15, 2015 to the date of preliminary approval of the proposed class settlement.”

Did you have to see graphic images because of your job? Share your story in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph R. Saveri, Steven N. Williams, Gwendolyn R. Giblin, Kevin E. Rayhill and Kyle P. Quackenbush of Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Korey A. Nelson, Lydia A. Wright, Amanda Klevorn, H. Rick Yelton, Warren Burns and Kyle Oxford of Burns Charest LLP and William Most.

The Facebook Content Moderator Class Action Lawsuit is Selena Scola, et al. v. Facebook Inc., Case No. 18-CIV-05135, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo.

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