Working as a Facebook content moderator is apparently so bad that one employee started bringing a gun to work


Working as a Facebook content moderator sounds like an absolutely nightmarish experience.
A new report from The Verge details the allegedly poor working conditions at Cognizant, a Facebook client where employees moderate content for the social media site. The job, which often involves dredging through videos depicting horrifying murders and other harmful content, has reportedly left workers experiencing anxiety attacks on the job and with secondary traumatic stress.
In addition, bosses at Cognizant reportedly "micromanage content moderators' every bathroom and prayer break," and workers describe long lines for the bathroom because "hundreds of employees share just one urinal and two stalls in the men's room," as well as an environment where "employees can be fired after making just a handful of errors a week." Two former employees of the Arizona company told The Verge they have experienced PTSD.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On employee told The Verge that because people who are fired frequently threaten to come back and physically harm their colleagues, he has started bringing a gun to work. Bob Duncan, the head of Cognizant's North American content moderation, said this would have been in violation of company policy.
The Cognizant work experience is so terrible, employees also told The Verge, that they often "cope by telling dark jokes about committing suicide, then smoke weed during breaks to numb their emotions." Employees have also reportedly frequently been found having sex at work.
Sifting through conspiracy theory content is part of the job as well, and some employees expressed concern that this was actually leading workers to buy into the theories. "I no longer believe 9/11 was a terrorist attack,” said one moderator, while another reportedly came to believe the Holocaust was a hoax.
These staffers are reportedly paid about $28,000 per year, compared to the average Facebook employee's salary of $240,000. Read more at The Verge.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
In the Spotlight Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been at odds with US forces
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages