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Meta’s content moderator subcontractor model faces legal squeeze in Spain

A Barcelona-based company that works as a subcontractor for Meta, providing content moderation services for Facebook and Instagram, has been found by a A Barcelona-based company that works as a subcontractor for Meta, providing content moderation services for Facebook and Instagram, has been found by a court in Spain to be responsible for psychological damage suffered by a worker.

A Barcelona-based company that works as a subcontractor for Meta, providing content moderation services for Facebook and Instagram, has been found by a court in Spain to be responsible for psychological damage suffered by a worker. A report in El Periodico Thursday said the ruling, which was handed down earlier this month, pertains to a challenge brought against Meta’s local subcontractor, CCC Barcelona Digital Services, by a 26-year-old Brazilian who has been receiving psychiatric treatment for five years owing to exposure to extreme and violent content on Facebook and Instagram, such as murders, suicides, terrorism and torture. The outsourcing of toxic content reviewing by Meta to various third party subcontractors, which provide scores of — typically — low paid workers to be used as human filters for extreme violence and other horrific acts uploaded to its social networks has been a source of disturbing stories for years.

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