TikTok is currently facing a new lawsuit filed by its former content moderator. According to the complainant, the platform failed to protect her mental health after watching disturbing videos which involve rape, animal abuse, suicide, and other sensitive topics.
Here's what she said in the class-action lawsuit against the Chinese video-sharing giant.
Former Moderator Sues TikTok
Ex TikTok Moderator is Suing the Platform For Failing to Protect Her Mental Health After Watching Gruesome Videos
According to an early report from Bloomberg, Candie Frazier shared that TikTok moderators are instructed to review numerous clips. The plaintiff added that they are obligated to do such a task with few breaks.
Usually, people who work as clip reviewers/moderators spend 12 hours on their daily shift. Per Frazier, she only got two (2) 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch break for the whole duration of her shift.
Furthermore, TikTok allows the moderators to review 25 seconds for each clip, but they would watch three to 10 videos. To make it worse, ByteDance is closely monitoring each of them if they are properly doing their jobs even if it means taking away their time viewing hundreds of gore clips.
The current lawsuit that TikTok is facing includes the lack of protection of moderators for their mental health. For one, Frazier stated that the platform also failed to stick with technical guidelines such as decreasing the resolution of a clip or blurring the sensitive contents.
Related Article: TikTok's Health Impacts Should Be Studied In Full, According To Researchers
Frazier Suffers From Psychological Damages
In another report, Gizmodo wrote that Frazier has experienced mental drawbacks from watching traumatic videos. She said that she has been depressed for a while and developed a series of panic and anxiety attacks. This is also connected to having post-traumatic stress disorder.
Apart from that, she also reported that she has been dealing with sleep problems. Frazier highlighted that she sometimes faced nightmares in her sleep. The majority of them came from the videos that she has reviewed.
With that, Frazier hopes to settle the lawsuit against Tiktok because it brought psychological damages to her. She proposed that the social media giant should establish a medical fund for moderators like her.
On Sunday, Dec. 26, Gizmodo asked the plaintiff about the issue but Frazier did not respond to the query. When a company representative was asked about the case, he/she only mentioned that TikTok is eyeing to "promote a caring working environment for all of its employees and contractors."
"Our safety team partners with third-party firms on the critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally," the spokesperson added.
Last September, TikTok said that it would launch mental health-focused features for struggling users.
If you want to explore more about mental health care, check this list of the best AI startups that you can follow for health care treatment.
Read Also: TikTok is Working on Removing Dangerous Challenges Before They Spread
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
