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☆ Mediation collapses between Meta and Kenyan moderators, rights group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNAIROBI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Settlement talks have collapsed between Facebook's parent company Meta (META.O) and Kenyan content moderators over a lawsuit alleging unfair dismissal, a tech rights group working with the moderators said on Monday. British tech rights group Foxglove said in a statement on Monday that the negotiations had broken down, accusing Meta and Sama of making "very little attempt to address core issues raised by the petitioners". The moderators also allege that Meta is trying to terminate their contracts in defiance of an earlier court order. A hearing on their petition to find Meta and Sama in contempt of court is scheduled for Oct. 31, Foxglove said.

Persons: Yves Herman, Meta, Foxglove, Mercy Mutemi, Sama, Majorel, George Obulutsa, Aaron Ross, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Meta, Facebook, Kenyan, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights NAIROBI, British, Sama, Kenya, Ethiopia

☆ Kenyan court orders mediation in Meta labour dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNAIROBI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A Kenyan court has given Facebook's parent company Meta (META.O) and content moderators suing it for unfair dismissal 21 days to resolve their dispute out of court, a court order showed on Wednesday. The 184 content moderators are suing Meta and two subcontractors after they say they lost their jobs with one of the firms, Sama, for organising a union. "The parties shall pursue an out of court settlement of this petition through mediation," said the order by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, which was signed by lawyers for the plaintiffs, Meta, Sama and Majorel. Meta, Sama and Majorel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Meta, Kenya's, Willy Mutunga, Hellen Apiyo, Majorel, George Obulutsa, Mark Potter Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, Rights, Kenyan, Sama, Facebook, Employment, Labour Relations Court, Thomson Locations: Rights NAIROBI, Luxembourg, Kenya, U.S, Sama, Ethiopia

☆ Teleperformance signs $185 million deal with Microsoft to launch GenAI tool
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 20 (Reuters) - France's Teleperformance (TEPRF.PA) signed a $185 million deal with Microsoft (MSFT.O) to launch its proprietary TP GenAI, the outsourcing group said on Tuesday, ahead of its artificial intelligence investor day. Teleperformance SE will host on Wednesday a virtual meeting with its AI experts to let investors peek behind the curtains of its efforts in the AI race. Teleperformance, which employs 410,000 staff in 170 countries, hosts conference calls, maintains pay and salary accounts, and provides automated translations to clients. Teleperformance said at the time that it predicts that 20% to 30% of its processes will be automated within the next three years. ($1 = 0.9163 euro)Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Victor Goury-Laffont; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Teleperformance, Bhupender Singh, Alessandro Parodi, Victor Goury, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Microsoft, Thomson

☆ Teleperformance launches 3 bln euro offer for call centre group Majorel
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Shares in Teleperformance (TEPRF.PA) dropped over 14% in early Wednesday trade after the French outsourcing and call centre group said it intends to buy rival Majorel (MAJ.AS) for 3 billion euros ($3.30 billion). The group, which employs more than 420,000 call centre workers worldwide, plans to raise 2.05 billion euros through a highly dilutive capital hike to entirely fund the acquisition. The announcement follows a $4.8 billion merger deal between U.S.-based competitor Concentrix Corp (CNXC.O) and French firm Webhelp in March. Majority shareholders in Majorel, Bertelsmann (BTGGg.F) and Saham, have irrevocably committed to tender their shares, Teleperformance said in a statement. Teleperformance is offering 30 euros per Majorel share, with an option for the latter's shareholders to receive Teleperformance shares at an exchange ratio of 0.1382.

☆ European shares fall as banking sector jitters eclipse upbeat earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Shubham Batra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.7%, as regional banking stocks (.SX7E) dropped 1.2%. Earnings from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Google's parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) beat expectations, but recessionary worries in the world's largest economy kept investor sentiment fragile. Shares of Swiss banking software company Temenos AG (TEMN.S) jumped 10.2% after it reported first-quarter earnings above consensus. Meanwhile, ASM International NV (ASMI.AS) fell 10.0% after the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker reported a drop in first-quarter orders, citing softening market conditions, despite an estimate-beating revenue. Dassault Systemes SE (DAST.PA) slid 7.4% after the French software maker reported first-quarter numbers broadly in line with estimates but with a miss on software licenses.

☆ Court rules Meta can be sued in Kenya over alleged unlawful redundancies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In response, Judge Matthews Nduma issued an interim injunction against Meta and Sama preventing them from terminating the moderators' contracts, pending a judgment on the legality of their redundancy. "The court finds that this court has jurisdiction to determine the matter of alleged unlawful and unfair termination of employment on grounds of redundancy," Nduma said on Thursday. Meta, Sama and Majorel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. The cases could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The U.S. giant works with thousands of moderators around the world, tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform.

☆ Kenyan judge temporarily blocks mass layoff of Facebook moderators
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, March 21 (Reuters) - A Kenyan judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the mass redundancy of some 260 Facebook content moderators working for an outsourcing company contracted by the social media site's parent company Meta (META.O), court documents show. Last week 43 moderators at Facebook's Nairobi moderation hub filed a lawsuit against the social media company and Sama for unlawful redundancy. Nduma also temporarily barred Meta from subcontracting the roles of the workers who moderate Facebook content for eastern and southern Africa. The court cases could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The U.S. company works with thousands of moderators around the world, tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform.

☆ Content moderators sue Meta over alleged 'union-busting' in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, March 20 (Reuters) - Facebook content moderators in Kenya are suing the social media site's parent company Meta (META.O) and two outsourcing companies for unlawful redundancy, a rights group said on Monday. The 43 applicants say they lost their jobs with Sama, a Kenya-based firm contracted to moderate Facebook content, for organising a union. They also say they were blacklisted from applying for the same roles at another outsourcing firm, Majorel, after Facebook switched contractors. The court cases could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The moderators accuse Meta of instructing Majorel not to hire any moderators previously employed by Sama, according to the court petition.

☆ Meta is changing who handles content moderation in East Africa. It isn't changing the dismal state of how social media stays sanitized.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Tekendra Parmar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta ended its contract with an outsourcing firm, Sama, that moderated graphic content in Africa. In August, Insider investigated the labor conditions for TikTok's content moderators working for Majorel in Morocco — the hub of ByteDance's Middle East and North Africa content moderation operation. Social media companies claim to use sophisticated algorithms that help clean up people's feeds, but this covers up the grim reality of how nearly every social media company works. Experts like Foxglove Legal have been calling on social media companies like Meta to bring their global content moderation workforce in-house. It may be the only way to make sure handling the worst elements of social media is shouldered by those who are truly accountable to the company and its users.

☆ A factory line of terrors: TikTok's African content moderators complain they were treated like robots, reviewing videos of suicide and animal cruelty for less than $3 an hour.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-01 | by ( Rosie Bradbury | Majd Al-Waheidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

One former Majorel advisor estimated that 1,400 content moderators work just on the firm's TikTok contract across Morocco. While targets and goals varied between teams, six moderators told Insider that their goals were difficult to meet. A spokesperson for Majorel told Insider these targets were guidance and not individual targets. While Majorel told Insider that moderators have access to harm-mitigation tools, such as grayscale features, all of the moderators Insider spoke with said they didn't have access to any such feature. Five other Majorel moderators also said the company's wellness counselors weren't enough to help them with the pressures of the role.

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