Former content moderator sues Facebook over mental trauma

IANS  |  San Francisco 

A former content at has sued the company alleging that moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the

"Ex-has sued for allegedly 'ignoring its duty' to protect moderators who deal with mental trauma after seeing disturbing imagery.

"Rather than create a safe environment, it's producing a 'revolving door of contractors' who are permanently scarred by what they've seen, Scola's said," Engadget reported on Tuesday.

According to the lawsuit, moderators at the under contract are "bombarded" with thousands of videos, images and livestreamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder.

The company has said it was "reviewing" the lawsuit and took support "seriously" and pointed to its existing assistance, including "in house" psychological and wellness support.

"We are currently reviewing this claim. We recognise that this work can often be difficult. That is why we take the support of our content moderators incredibly seriously, starting with their training, the benefits they receive, and ensuring that every person reviewing content is offered psychological support and wellness resources," Facebook was quoted as saying by Engadget.

The has maintained that all of its content reviewers have access to mental health resources, including trained professionals onsite for both individual and group counselling and that they receive full health care benefits, according to

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, September 25 2018. 12:12 IST