TikTok moderator in Barcelona files lawsuit for psychological damage

A worker from Majorel SP Solutions, a company moderating TikTok content in Barcelona, has filed a lawsuit for labor violations against five board members and directors. She has also filed a complaint against another person for attacking her moral integrity, and a third complaint was filed for serious injuries due to negligence.

The lawsuit accuses the company of imposing "absolute inhumane labor conditions," which are "unbearable to any human being," the text reads, as first reported by the Spanish newspaper El Periódico and later confirmed by the lawyer to Catalonia's public broadcaster, TV3.

The company is in charge of filtering videos that users upload on TikTok. She claims that she did not receive any proper training on labor hazards before starting to work or adequate psychological support that could help her with what she was constantly watching on the screen.

During a working day, she saw between 800 and 1,200 videos with only a five-minute pause per hour.

The text states that all those leading the company "knew perfectly" that moderators were "facing severe mental issues" due to the audiovisual content they had to analyze, as well as the "working conditions" and the "quality and productivity requirements."

The employee started working in Majorel in 2019, and, as the lawsuit says, she was not required to prove any previous studies. At first, she moderated content in German, as she spoke the language, before moderating content in Spanish. She was also in charge of reviewing warnings submitted by users of "extreme violence." Most of these videos lasted between one and four minutes.

Before joining the company, Majorel would hide the "extreme" situation workers would face, the complaint argues.

Facebook

Last week, Facebook’s content moderation company in Barcelona, Telus Digital, ceased its services to Meta, leaving 2,000 content moderators uncertain about their future.

The announcement came after all internal communications had been suspended, including access to email accounts.

Marta Valero, president of the company’s workers' committee, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that it remains unclear whether an Employment Regulation File (ERO) will be opened for the affected employees. She added that that they hadn’t received any official communication from Telus regarding the next steps.

Telus International told ACN that its clients “are diversifying their presence and relocating services elsewhere.”