This week, The Nationalreported on the working conditions endured by the 15,000 people worldwide hired by Facebook to monitor and censor potentially inappropriate content on the social networking site.
In 2019, Chris Gray, a content moderator previously employed by one of the company's Facebook contracts for monitoring work, spoke out about the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis he sustained as a result of his role. It is a tragic, but perhaps unexpected outcome, given that his job involved witnessing executions, rapes and child abuse on a routine basis.
Last May, Facebook was ordered to pay $52 million in compensation to over 11,000 current and former content moderators in the US for job-related negative impacts on their mental health. In Europe, a further 30 workers from Ireland, Spain and Germany have launched legal action against the social media giant and four of its third-party outsourcing agents, seeking compensation for psychological damages. The fact that judges are finding not only Facebook, but also sub-contracted companies liable points to the nebulous manner in which the social media platform allegedly distances itself from the uncomfortable reality of moderators' jobs.
Mr Gray reports having had targets of checking 1000 flagged posts a day, which he would have to categorise with 98 per cent accuracy. He was given only eight days' training before being handed a copy of Facebook's guidelines and beginning the job. According to Mr Gray, the office was staffed in large part by young language students, who were being paid in the region of $32,000 a year.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg uses outsourcing firms to employ content moderators. PA
All of this points to a company that has lost control of a technological revolution it created
Politicians are increasingly critical of Facebook's slow response to the issue. On Wednesday, James Lawless, chairman of Ireland's justice committee, suggested that Facebook is altogether failing to address these problems. Alan Rusbridger, a board member of Facebook's semi-independent Oversight Board, said the group would investigate the company's core algorithm, in an attempt to delve deeper into how the website not only censors content, but how it manages its prominence on the site. Whether or not the board is successful, their intentions are correct.
All of this points to a company that has lost control of a technological revolution it created. And with inadequate training and occupational support, it is no surprise that moderators are struggling.
Employees will, of course, have had some indication about the difficult nature of the job before they applied. But this is no excuse for inadequate safety measures and access to counselling, of the kind that other professions dealing with traumatic circumstances, such as medics and police officers, would be entitled to.
Identifying and adjudicating on evidence of abuses by human beings will always require other human beings in order to make the necessary moral judgements. Algorithms, especially in their current form, can only go so far in that process. Those who profit from social media platforms should support moderators when they demand better conditions. And the public, shielded on a daily basis from exposure to the horrors the moderators must witness, ought to second those demands.
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
