Facebook Defends Itself Over Content Moderators’ Mental Health Concerns

Facebook is now facing concerns over the mental health of content moderators who have to search through the platform for porn, violence, and hate speech even when the giant social network tries its best to keep offensive content under control.

There are around 15,000 reviewers at Facebook. Facebook itself does not employ almost all of them, but staffing firms such as Cognizant and Accenture.

The biggest social network in the world admitted that there is still room for contractors’ condition improvement. Some of these contractors have been suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

VP of Global Operations of Facebook, Justin Osofsky said in a public post:

Facebook’s comments are made after it is reported by The Verge that Cognizant employees working with the social network seek help from dark humor, drugs, and sex at work to deal with content like violence and suicides.

Some of them even started to believe in conspiracy theories in the videos that they check. On average, the Cognizant employees earn around $28,800 a year.

One former employee said that he began to think that the conspiracy theories are true, like the event of 9/11 was not related to terrorism after he moderated that content. He also mentioned how he brought a gun with him to work and still keeps it nearby when he sleeps since fired employees threatened to hurt former co-workers.

Employees have “wellness time” and breaks. But The Verge reported that six employees found resources not enough. To handle the stress from their jobs, some had sexual intercourse inside the stairwells, bathroom stalls, and some other places.

In a statement, a spokeswoman of Cognizant said that employees receive support through a wellness program, on-site counselors, and other tools.

Cognizant said:

This is not the first time concerns over content moderators emerges. Last year, Facebook faced a lawsuit filed by a moderator who accused the company of its inadequacy to take care of its workers’ mental health.

Other news outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Motherboard, Wired, have also written about the difficulties that content moderators have while reviewing disturbing content.

With its blog post, the giant social network attempted to reassure employees that it has been taking measures to tackle these concerns.

It said with clear contracts, regular site visits, the company has still been keeping an eye on their employees’ wellness.

The social network also mentioned that it would carry out an examination of its partners, regulate its contracts and organize an event to unite its partners.

Contractors can contact their employers’ HR department or Facebook anonymously via a whistleblower hotline.

Osofsky wrote: