Facebook has agreed to a $52 million compensation to content moderators who suffered mental trauma from the graphic and violent images they were required to review.
The lawsuit was filed in 2018 to a California state court. More than 10,000 current and former content moderators who worked for firms contracted by Facebook will be compensated with at least $1,000 each. Those diagnosed with specific mental health conditions will get additional compensation up to $50,000.
The moderators claimed that they were subject to psychological trauma from repeated exposure to graphic content such as child sexual abuse, beheadings, terrorism, animal cruelty, rape and murder.
“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”, a plaintiff lawyer said.
Facebook also agreed to take measures to provide content moderators employed by its contractors in the United States with mental health support and counseling.
