This week, a former Facebook content moderator named Daniel Motaung filed a lawsuit against Facebook parent company Meta in Kenya for alleged forced labor practices, union busting, and even human trafficking.

In his suit, Motaung alleges that he wasn’t told during his recruitment process that he would have to look at graphic and disturbing content as part of his job. According to him, the company’s recruitment ads are “designed to trick unsuspecting applicants into unknowingly becoming Facebook Content Moderators.” He then goes on to allege that this equates to human trafficking under Kenyan law.

“Mark Zuckerberg and his cronies at firms like Sama cannot be allowed to treat people like this,” Motaung said. “That’s why I’m doing this. We are not animals. We are people — and we deserve to be treated as such.”

Beyond merely punishing Facebook, the suit also seeks to implement greater mental health support for content moderators, as well as increasing their wages to match full-time employees. This seems like a pretty bold ask, and Motaung’s allegations are far from certain to stand up in court. But at least the company is being made to answer for its practices not just in the United States but around the globe.

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