Working for Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) can have serious health repercussions. According to The Guardian, over 140 Facebook content moderators have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress syndrome. This arises from their daily exposure—between 8 to 10 hours a day—to dangerous content on the social network.
The diagnosis was made in the context of a lawsuit filed in March 2023. Employees claimed against Sama, a contractor for Meta responsible for removing violent and hateful posts from Facebook between 2019 and 2023, as well as Meta itself, to highlight their working conditions and wrongful dismissals.
The moderators faced horrific images, including murders, self-harm, suicides, sexual violence, and explicit sexual content, among others. These violent images led to fainting spells, vomiting, shouting, and the departure of some moderators. Many reported personal upheavals, such as divorces or losing touch with their families, while others, tasked with removing videos posted by terrorist groups, feared for their safety and lives.
