Facebook outsources much of its human moderation to a company called Accenture, which employs thousands of moderators around the world, including in countries like Portugal and Malaysia. These laborers face daily exposure to deaths on camera, recorded abuse, and child pornography. They keep the feeds clean for the rest of us, exposing themselves to psychic harm the way trash pickers digging through international electronic waste dumped in Ghana and elsewhere are exposed to poisonous chemicals. The toxic material doesn’t just magically vanish because of the mediation of the algorithm. Once
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I appreciate the author making the connection between our toxic content and our toxic waste, and how the consequences of both are pushed onto more marginalized communities to deal with.
