Social Media

Lawsuit Alleges Facebook Failed To Protect Employees From Trauma

A ​former employee says Facebook content moderators are "bombarded daily with thousands" of graphic videos and images.

Lawsuit Alleges Facebook Failed To Protect Employees From Trauma
Getty Images
SMS

A former contractor is suing Facebook for allegedly failing to protect content moderators from being traumatized by their work.

The law firm representing her said in a press release that Facebook content moderators are "bombarded daily with thousands" of graphic videos and images of things like child sexual abuse and suicides. The former contractor says she suffers from PTSD after working with the company for nine months.

The press release claims Facebook drafted work safety standards "more than a decade ago" to protect moderators from psychological trauma, but that it hasn't followed through.

The former employee is asking Facebook to help current and former content moderators deal with trauma they've experienced on the job by paying for testing and care. As of Monday afternoon, Facebook had yet to comment.