Data workers from Kenya and Germany met in Nairobi, Kenya, for an International Solidarity Meeting. During the meeting, participants compared experiences in the field of data work from both countries, discussed strategies for labour organizing and developed joint demands to address tech companies and policymakers.
The discussions revealed overlapping challenges: low wages, outsourcing, insufficient health protections, a lack of recognition for their work, and more. The participants developed a set of joint demands to fight for better working conditions across borders.
The participants included social media content moderators and works council members from Germany, the founders of the African Content Moderators Union, and data workers from the Data Labelers Association. The meeting was organized by the NGOs Siasa Place (Kenya) and SUPERRR Lab (Germany), along with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).
The data workers from Kenya and Germany demand:
- No discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, and other similar characteristics. Social media companies must ensure that all workers are treated equally, regardless of their background or country of residence. Data workers around the world performing the same tasks receive only a fraction of the wages paid in the US or Europe, often under much harsher conditions. This form of digital colonialism must end, with uniform standards for benefits and working conditions established worldwide.
- Guaranteed freedom of assembly and speech for all workers. The NDAs that prevent workers from speaking out about the nature of their labour and working conditions must be abolished. This assures freedom of association and the expression of the worker's voice.
- Employers must provide clear and transparent terms and conditions.
This includes:
●Transparent job descriptions. The nature of work and the content must be explicit for both parties and defined in a contract. This transparency includes removing the phrase ‘any other duties’ from the contract.
●Tech companies must pay for full expenses incurred during work (e.g. Equipment, internet connection, etc.)
●Transparent promotion process based on qualification, education and merit. - Tech companies must be accountable for the critical safety work of data workers*. To ensure this data workers must be treated as employees, not contractors, with transparent legal processes and open working terms.
●Tech companies must handle content moderation in-house, implement long-term contracts and legislate for BPO accountability. Contracts to be directly concluded with the client – to ensure accountability and eliminate the blame game.
*such as content moderators, data annotators and cloud workers. - Proper compensation and social benefits must be provided for all data workers: Data workers should benefit from the employer by providing paid vacations, health insurance, pensions, workplace safety, and social protection. Context: We advocate for these changes because the current nature of digital work is both toxic and demanding. Digital workers require stability and security in both their professional and personal lives. The time-intensive nature of digital work often leads to long hours, including weekends and holidays, without any additional compensation. This practice treats these extended hours as regular working time, with no extra pay or benefits, which is unacceptable. We demand proper compensation and surcharges for premium hours, including weekends, nights, public holidays, and overtime. These terms must be documented and secured in a binding contract between employer and employee.
- Proper mental health care must be provided to all data workers dealing with disturbing content. Our work as content moderators and data labellors poses severe risks to our mental health, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and PSTD. Each company must obtain independent, expert advice on effective safeguards and implement recommendations without delay. In the meantime, access to independent, registered mental health clinicians must be provided to each of us on a 24-hour basis. Assessments of individual tolerance for extreme content must become mandatory before individuals begin the job and must continue throughout their employment. Additionally, mental health support must be offered upon request after leaving, termination, or retirement.
- We demand the recognition of data work as a legitimate occupation, including appropriate training and entitlement to all statutory benefits under the law, with proper legislative frameworks established. AI systems rely on vast amounts of data to learn and operate, yet the human workers who spend hours training these models are not recognised as professionals. Similarly, content moderators play a crucial role in ensuring social media platforms are safer for the public, yet their work is not acknowledged as a profession. Therefore, we demand that data work be recognised as a profession, with certification (e.g., data labelling, content moderation, cloud work, etc.) from an accredited institution. We demand that the multinationals behind these projects recognise the human interaction and contribution that go into the work we do.
- Tech companies must not stand in the way of employees' efforts to unionise or form work councils across the industry. They must allow organisers to have sessions with employees openly, freely, and without any intimidation.