Meta is facing a new problem related to one of her social networks. In this case, with a group of moderators in Spanish on Facebook. Mexican employees have disclosed to buzzfeednews the harsh conditions of their work when reviewing the content that is published on the platform. Also the injustices they have to face on a daily basis regarding employees who reviewed content in English.
The team of employees, who have preferred to remain anonymous, work in genpact, a company subcontracted by Facebook and that has already had problems of mistreatment of employees in the past, according to reports. The moderators, in this case, denounce that the company It has forced them to attend the office in person even in the toughest moments of the pandemic. Specifically, in the midst of a wave of cases due to the Delta and Omicron variants.
Genpact also offered moderators reviewing Facebook content in English to do rotating shifts so they could work from home. Measure that, as we well know, reduces the chances of contagion in the workplace. The company, in fact, sent an email to its employees informing about this measure. Mail that the Mexican moderators did not receive.
The problems worsened when many of the workers dedicated to reviewing Facebook content who came in person tested positive for coronavirus during the month of December. According to the portal, more than 30 cases were reported in a few weeks, but the company barely informed its employees. At the end of that same month, a group of workers were forced to leave the office after being exposed to the virus by an infected colleague, despite the fact that Genpact does not cover sick leave.
Genpact forced employees with Hispanic-sounding names to review content in Spanish
Employees tasked with proofreading posts in Spanish have also had to deal with injustices and disadvantages compared to people proofreading content in English. The team of moderators, in fact, must review more content. Although they are focused on posts from Mexico, where Facebook has more than 84 million active users, they are also in charge of checking posts from apps like Instagram or WhatsApp, even from other Spanish-speaking countries.
The team, composed of 50 people has to meet an 85% accuracy rate when reviewing content that may violate Facebook policies. As well as with a time frame of 66 seconds on average to make a decision about its publication or elimination. All this, taking into account that on many occasions they must deal with two languages. Many of these publications in English, despite being from Mexico. Facebook’s guidelines are also not available in Spanish, so they must be translated.
Due to the heavy workload of the Mexican moderators, Genpact began to recruit workers from other areas. According to one of the complainants, the company required those employees with a “name that may sound remotely Hispanic” take an exam to check if they were suitable to review content in Spanish. Many of them, despite not mastering the language, were forced to take that job. Subsequently, they were fired for failing to meet the company’s performance conditions.
Genpact and Facebook responses
genpact he has ignored some of the most contentious points of his accusations. However, he did not hesitate to respond to buzzfeednews claiming that employee safety is the company’s top priority.
“Any return-to-office decision made based on client needs is done with established health and safety best practices and in accordance with local regulations. At all of our workplace locations, including our office of Richardson, Texas, we follow best-in-class safety standards, including frequent antigen testing.”
Ensures Danielle D’Angelo, spokesperson for Genpact.
Facebook, for its part, has highlighted the importance of maintaining a team of people in charge of moderating the content that is published on the platform.
“We use a combination of technology and people to keep content that breaks our rules off our platform. While AI has made progress in this space, people are a key part of our security efforts.”
Mentions Kadia Koroma, Facebook spokesperson.