Colombia’s Ministry of Labor opened an investigation into Teleperformance, a TikTok contractor, over allegations of union violations, traumatic operating situations and low wages, first through TIME and the Office of Investigative Journalism.
Teleperformance hired TikTok content moderators who earned as little as $10 per day, according to the TIME and Bureau report. Workers were required to watch videos showing killings, child abuse and sexual violence in the course of duty. Attempts by workers to register for a union have been intimidated and threatened.
Read more: Behind the rise of TikTok: A legion of moderators traumatized at $10 a day
“We need to officially open an investigation against Teleperformance,” Edwin Palma Egea, Colombia’s minister of social relations, tweeted Tuesday. alleged violations of labour standards”.
“According to a report of October 20, 2022, provided through TIME magazine, a series of facts have been exposed that violate the right to dignity, dignity and social security towards those who moderate Teleperformance’s TikTok videos in Colombia,” an official of the investigation reported. Dated Oct. 26, notified via TIME, it says, “This state of health has led this company to provide allowances in terms of both his physical and mental health. “
In a statement, Teleperformance said it has not yet obtained official notification of the investigation. “If we get an official notification, we will respond at that time,” a spokesman said Wednesday. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
Teleperformance, a calling giant headquartered in France with offices around the world, is one of Colombia’s largest employers, with more than 42,000 employees in the country. While its TikTok moderators make up only a small fraction of that number, they play a role for the short-video giant, making sure users’ streams in Latin America remain free of traumatic content that can cause users to abandon the lucrative app.
Shares of Paris-listed Teleperformance fell 34% following the announcement of the investigation by Colombia’s Department of Labor, and inventory trading was halted at the company’s request, according to MarketWatch. his actions, saying the idea of the move is “a smart use of your available cash. “
Social media corporations around the world are turning to outside contractors in emerging countries to do the traumatic but comprehensive jobs of content moderation. For years, these works have been carried out under the veil of secrecy, but recent reports in the press have encouraged a wave of legal and regulatory reviews. The investigation in Colombia comes just months after a former Facebook content moderator filed a high-profile complaint in Kenya, alleging anti-union acts and other violations of Kenya’s constitution, following a TIME investigative report.
Read more: Inside the African exploitation of Facebook
The president of Utraclaro, the union amid anti-union lawsuits against Teleperformance’s TikTok staff in the TIME and Bureau report, welcomed the resolution in a tweet. “This is a breakthrough,” Yuli Higuera wrote. They are abusing their staff [but] it remains invisible as the staff itself does not report it out of fear. “
The UNI world union, a foreign painters’ rights coordination organization of which Utraclaro is a member, told TIME it would cooperate with the Colombian government’s investigation. execution situations in Teleperformance,” UNI’s regional secretary for the Americas, Marcio Monzane, said in The Array. “The company is one of the largest personal employers in Colombia, but it doesn’t take the well-being of painters seriously. The TIME presentation showed how Teleperformance’s content moderators want a voice in the paintings that struggle day in and day out with low wages, strenuous hours, and lack of sufficient mental support. UNI and its affiliates will cooperate with the Ministry in its investigation.