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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Robert Booth and Caroline Kimeu in Nairobi

PTSD, depression and anxiety: why former Facebook moderators in Kenya are taking legal action

The offices  of Samasource, the Nairobi-based subcontractor for Facebook's parent company, Meta
The offices of Samasource Kenya, the Nairobi-based subcontractor for Facebook's parent company, Meta. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Smashing bricks against the side of your house is not a normal way to wind down after work. Nor is biting your own arm or being scared to go to sleep. But that was the reality for one of the 144 people diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder after moderating horrific content for Facebook.

The young mother in her 20s did the job in Nairobi for more than two years during which she claims she had to vet unspeakably graphic videos. These included extreme sexual deviancy and bestiality, child abuse, torture, dismemberment and murder, which caused her to vomit, according to court filings. On one occasion she recalled having to watch a person having sex with a snake.

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