Content moderators in the African country have formed a union to defend themselves against Big Tech. Social media giants outsource work to these freelancers, who are tasked with removing violent rhetoric and extremism from digital platforms
Humanity has created a huge underclass of people who are expected to deal with the world’s refuse for poverty income. We’ve outsourced physical textile disposal to places like Ghana, creating canyons of clothing on land and textile tentacles miles long in the water. And similarly we have outsourced our conceptual garbage to overseas sweatshops, creating mental harm to the data waste pickers.
They’re out of sight and mind of the rest of a company’s workers to “minimise costs”, but the reality is that it also serves as a shield. It shields company decision-makers from consequences and engagement with their product’s consumers. Consumerism is in part sustained by preventing as many people as possible from thinking about what happens after they dispose something or someone. Putting our call centres and moderators overseas is a huge part of making that happen.
It’s a lot easier to make shitty profit-driven decisions when you don’t have a bunch of depressed “customer support” and “community moderator” workers hanging around head office. The decision-makers might empathise with them too much and it will reduce morale and productivity, or worse, increase costs of employment. It’s much better to just have the outsourced remote workers give one head office employee a sanitised list of the most vile shit they’re exposed to, while someone else from head office who thry have never spoken to gives them $3 for the privilege.
Humanity has created a huge underclass of people who are expected to deal with the world’s refuse for poverty income. We’ve outsourced physical textile disposal to places like Ghana, creating canyons of clothing on land and textile tentacles miles long in the water. And similarly we have outsourced our conceptual garbage to overseas sweatshops, creating mental harm to the data waste pickers.
They’re out of sight and mind of the rest of a company’s workers to “minimise costs”, but the reality is that it also serves as a shield. It shields company decision-makers from consequences and engagement with their product’s consumers. Consumerism is in part sustained by preventing as many people as possible from thinking about what happens after they dispose something or someone. Putting our call centres and moderators overseas is a huge part of making that happen.
It’s a lot easier to make shitty profit-driven decisions when you don’t have a bunch of depressed “customer support” and “community moderator” workers hanging around head office. The decision-makers might empathise with them too much and it will reduce morale and productivity, or worse, increase costs of employment. It’s much better to just have the outsourced remote workers give one head office employee a sanitised list of the most vile shit they’re exposed to, while someone else from head office who thry have never spoken to gives them $3 for the privilege.