Being a content moderator for Facebook can be so stressful that one San Francisco woman said she developed PTSD.

The former contract employee, Selena Scola, is now suing the tech giant for exposing her to what she claims to be an unsafe work environment. In her job as moderator, Scola said she was forced to view "thousands of acts of extreme and graphic violence" before removing it.

"By requiring its content moderators to work in dangerous conditions that cause debilitating physical and psychological harm, Facebook violates California law," according to the lawsuit, which was filed in a California Superior Court last Friday.

It's no secret that working as a Facebook content moderator can be a soul-crushing job that can expose employees to terrorist-sponsored videos involving violent beheadings and child sex abuse images. However, Scola's lawsuit seeks class-action status, and demands that Facebook change its workplace practices.

From June 2017 to March 2018, Scola worked as a Facebook content moderator in the company's Mountain View offices, but was employed through the contractor Pro Unlimited. Her main complaint is that both companies fail to prevent moderators from suffering psychological trauma caused by their work.

The lawsuit refrains from detailing Scola's own experience as a moderator over concern the companies will retaliate by pointing to the non-disclosure agreement she signed with them. But according to the lawsuit, Scola's PTSD symptoms will be triggered when she "touches a computer mouse, enters a cold building, watches violence on television" or hears loud noises.

Facebook is well aware it could be doing more to protect its content moderators from suffering psychological trauma, the lawsuit claims. In 2015, the company banded together with other industry partners to publish a guidebook that includes tips on how employers should help content moderators recover from reviewing child sexual abuse images. However, Scola's lawsuit claims Facebook content moderators receive little training on how to handle the stress.

Facebook has employed at least 7,500 content moderators. Scola is calling on the court to demand that the company and Pro Unlimited establish a fund devoted to treating content moderators for psychological trauma. She is also asking the court to "award injunctive relief" to the plaintiffs.

So far, Scola is the only content moderator named in the lawsuit. Facebook and Pro Unlimited did not respond to a request for comment.

In July, Facebook acknowledged that being a content moderator was difficult work. "This job is not for everyone," the company said, adding it carefully screens candidates for the positions. "This means that we look at a candidate's ability to deal with violent imagery for example," it added.

To support content moderators, Facebook said it has a team of four clinical psychologists devoted to developing programs to help workers cope with handling violent and graphic imagery. "All content reviewers — whether full-time employees, contractors, or those employed by partner companies — have access to mental health resources, including trained professionals onsite for both individual and group counseling. And all reviewers have full health care benefits," the company said.

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