Moderators ask Facebook in open letter for better working conditions

Facebook moderators are asking in an open letter for better psychological support, less strict confidentiality agreements and more openness in the workplace. They also denounce the distinction made between internal and external moderators.

The authors write at the beginning of their open letter that they have doubts about whether Facebook is concerned with their health and safety. They argue that the company is treating them unfairly and that the work they are doing is unsafe. For these reasons, they have some requirements that they list.

First of all, the authors of the letter want Facebook to make the non-disclosure agreements less strict. According to the authors, these agreements are not only about people’s personal data that cannot be shared and they promote a culture in which there is an ‘exaggerated secrecy’. It was not stated what the nondisclosure agreements are about.

The authors then demand long-term and adequate psychological counseling for all moderators. “The content we see is not ‘occasionally’ harsh as Facebook claims. It is psychologically harmful and often violent. You cannot go home unharmed,” the authors write. “The psychological support we are given is tragically lacking. This job should not cost us our mental health.”

Finally, it is requested that Facebook all moderators be treated equally. “Facebook wrote in a letter to the Irish Parliament that the work of internal moderators is more complex than that of external moderators. This is misleading. The work of external moderators is as complex as that of internal moderators. This distinction must end today,” it sounds.