Tech giant Facebook will reportedly be paying a settlement of $52 million to thousands of current and former content moderators who developed PTSD after viewing and removing graphic and disturbing posts on the social media platform.
NPR reports that according to a settlement agreement announced on Tuesday between tech giant Facebook and lawyers for former Facebook content moderators. Mark Zuckerberg’s company will be paying $52 million to thousands of workers affected by the content they were forced to view and remove from Facebook.
More than 10,000 content moderators who worked for Facebook from sites in four U.S. states will each be eligible to receive $1,000 in cash. Any of those moderators that are now diagnosed with psychological conditions related to heir work as Facebook moderators can have medical treatment covered and may be entitled to as much as $50,000 per person.
Steve Williams, a lawyer for the content moderators, said in a statement: “We are so pleased that Facebook worked with us to create an unprecedented program to help people performing work that was unimaginable even a few years ago. The harm that can be suffered from this work is real and severe.”
As part of the settlement agreement, Facebook admitted no wrongdoing and has agreed to provide mental health counseling to its moderators.
“We are grateful to the people who do this important work to make Facebook a safe environment for everyone. We’re committed to providing them additional support through this settlement and in the future,” a Facebook spokesperson told NPR via email.
Williams, the plaintiff’s lawyer, further commented: “This groundbreaking litigation fixed a major workplace problem involving developing technology and its impact on real workers who suffered in order to make Facebook safer for its users.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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