‘I didn’t eat or sleep’: a Meta moderator on his breakdown after seeing beheadings and child abuse
When Solomon* strode into the gleaming Octagon tower in Accra, Ghana, for his first day as a Meta content moderator, he was bracing himself for difficult but fulfilling work, purging social media of harmful content.But after just two weeks of training, the scale and depravity of what he was exposed to was far darker than he ever imagined.“The first day I didn’t come across any graphic content, but gradually I started coming across very graphic content like beheadings, child abuse, bestiality.When I first came across that ticket I was very shocked.I didn’t even look at my computer because it was very disturbing for me.
“But gradually I started normalising what happened because I became used to it,I even started to enjoy seeing people beheaded, child abuse, pornography, suicide,I asked myself, is that normal? And I replied, it’s not,”Solomon, who arrived from his home in east Africa in late 2023, said he would “never forget the day” he came across a person being gradually skinned alive,“The system doesn’t allow us to skip it … we have to look at it for 15 seconds, at least.
”Another video featured a woman from his home country screaming for help in his native language while several people stabbed her.He says the videos became more and more disturbing.Some days, there would be no videos, then something would start trending and in the same day 70-80% of videos would feature graphic content.He felt himself gradually becoming “out of humanity”.In the evenings, he would return to the shared flat provided by his employer, the outsourcing company Teleperformance, with “no room for privacy and many problems with water and electricity”.
When Solomon learned that a childhood friend had been killed, his already fragile mental health unravelled.He broke a window and a mirror in frustration, leading Teleperformance to suspend him until he felt better.He spent the next two weeks home alone.“I started developing depression.I didn’t eat or sleep, I drank day and night and smoked day and night.
I was not this kind of person before,” he said,Solomon attempted suicide, and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where, he said, he was diagnosed with major depression disorder with suicidal ideation,He was discharged after eight days, at the end of 2024,Teleperformance offered to transfer him to a lower-paid job, but he feared he would not earn enough to survive in Accra,He asked for compensation for harm and longer term psychological care to be covered but instead Teleperformance sent him back to his home town, which is in the midst of an insurgency.
“You’re using me and throwing me,They treated me like a water bottle – you drink water and throw the bottle way,” Solomon said after his dismissal,He said he had held a professional job in his home country, adding: “Before coming here I was so happy and peaceful,”Another moderator, Abel*, shared how he, too, had had his contract terminated, for standing up for his friend Solomon and for the rights of other employees,He said he had told Teleperformance: “You’re not treating him well.
”“They just put him in the house.He stayed alone and he was telling me he’s scared being alone all the time, it was giving him severe stress, so he started to going to the company, ‘I want to stay with you guys, I want to be in office, I’m scared.’”Abel, too, had struggled with his mental health because of the content.“I didn’t know the nature of the job, actually.I didn’t realise I’d see people skinned alive and porn videos as my daily job … This is the first time I’d heard of content moderators … I used to be spooked when I saw blood, but now I’ve become numb.
Gradually I’ve seen it altering my character … I’m struggling.Not to exaggerate, it’s 100% changed me.”He said his colleagues often sat around drinking coffee and discussing disturbing content, including religious colleagues sharing their feelings of shame.He has come to fear raising such issues with the wellbeing coach, as he has seen his disclosures later being referred to by his team leader.When he said he no longer wished to use wellbeing services, which he believed were “for research on us”, he was challenged.
A Teleperformance spokesperson said: “Upon learning of his depression as a result of his friend’s death, we conducted a psychological assessment and determined that the employee was no longer well enough to continue providing moderation services.“Instead, we offered him a different non-moderation role which he declined, insisting that he wanted to continue in this moderation role.Given this was not an option, his position ended and he was provided compensation according to his contractual agreement.“During his employment and afterward, we continued offering the employee psychological support, which he has repeatedly declined.At the suggestion of his brother, so that family could help provide the employee with support, and with the approval of medical counsel, we provided the employee with his flight back to Ethiopia.
“We have continued to offer the employee psychological support in Ethiopia, however he has declined the support.Instead, he has tried to extort Teleperformance for money under threat of going to the media.”*Names have been changed to protect identities In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor.In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Oranges are not the only fruit: Cumbrian marmalade awards offer unusual blends
Marmalade was never really my jam, but at the world marmalade awards at Dalemain house on the edge of the Lake District, I found myself a convert.The experience has given weight to my theory that you might fall in love with any food if you try it at its finest. Hate tomatoes? Go to Italy. Not a fan of marmalade? Savour a spoonful in the presence of beaming marmalade fanatics who have spent their lives devoted to creating the tangiest, sweetest, jelly-ish version of the preserve.At first I was sceptical about tasting the jam off the spoon
Sunday best: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for braised chicken with chickpeas and rosewater dried apricots
An aromatic Persian stew, followed by stewed dried apricots with pistachio cookiesSpring is here in all its glory, as the birds testify with their ebullient chitter-chat. But the weather is wilful and the air can turn chilly in a flash, and it’s this in-between time when soothing braises made with lighter ingredients are just what’s needed. I recently found a recipe for an Iranian chicken stew recipe that paired carrots and yoghurt, and its sunniness really appealed to me; I added cardamom for its evocative scent and chickpeas for body, and it was demolished by the troops. Pudding had to be simple, and both the biscuits and poached apricots can be made a few days ahead, so it is also blissfully easy. A lovely spring lunch for a lazy, sun-soaked day
Pudding for breakfast? Latest internet fad is a dream for those with a sweet tooth
The idea of pudding as a sweet finale to lunch or dinner is being inverted by the rise of the breakfast pudding. This topsy-turvy food trend includes everything from chia seed puddings designed to taste like cookie dough, overnight oats that resemble tiramisu and Weetabix biscuits transformed into what could be mistaken for vanilla cheesecake.TikTok is the main instigator of the trend, causing dieticians, fitness influencers and homecooks to do battle with viral recipes. The process tends to involve soaking base ingredients such as oats and chia seeds overnight with natural plant additions such as dates and cacao powder or somewhat less healthy, processed items such as melted chocolate bars and spreads including Lotus Biscoff, a brand of caramelised biscuits. There are recipes inspired by Snickers, Kinder Bueno and Bounty bars alongside others modelled on cinnamon rolls and matcha lattes
Ravneet Gill’s recipe for apple souffle and hazelnuts | The sweet spot
Take souffle to the next level by baking it inside an apple. This retro dessert is easy and a bit of fun, too. The result is a soft, tender apple shell filled with light, airy souffle, perfect with lashings of vanilla ice-cream (which will hopefully form a delightful puddle when served with the hot pudding). Ideal for entertaining – it’s like eating the filling of an apple pie, but lighter.Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr Serves 44 eating apples, such as braeburn20g softened unsalted butter45g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting1 tsp cornflour2 egg whites20g blanched hazelnuts, roasted and chopped, plus extra to serve, if you likeIcing sugar, to dustVanilla ice-cream, to serveCut the tops off the apples and very carefully scoop out the flesh with a small spoon or melon baller, leaving about 4mm of flesh all around the edges of the shell
Taking the biscuit: for 100 years we’ve been eating chocolate digestives wrong
Whether dunking, nibbling or munching a chocolate digestive, it seems common sense to keep the biscuity side down.But we are getting it all wrong, according to Anthony Coulson, general manager of the McVitie’s factory in Stockport, Greater Manchester.He insists that the chocolate should be on the bottom and the biscuit on top.“One of the very first things I learned when I got to join McVitie’s was chocolate side down to eat the digestive,” he told the BBC. “Up until then, I’d always eaten it the other way round
Michelin reviews have star quality | Brief letters
Re your article on Michelin stars (‘It was very difficult to hold on to’: are Michelin stars a blessing – or a curse?, 21 April), wherever I have been in Europe, Michelin-recommended restaurants have been reliable and often memorable. Not just at the upper end, but especially in the lower ratings. Recently, in Ireland, the only restaurant we really enjoyed was one we found on its easy-to-use app. I would far rather use a guide that uses professional assessors, whose consistent and unbiased views are a better indicator of quality than the vox pop approach of Tripadvisor and others.John Summers Abergavenny, Gwent Determined to speak to a human being, I telephoned the Halifax bank last week (The death of customer service: why has it become so, so bad?, 17 April)
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