VOA慢速英语听力：非洲内容工作者起诉Facebook，报告工作条件恶劣 Content Workers in Africa Sue Facebook, Report Poor Work Conditions.
Nathan Nkuzimana worked for a Kenyan company called Sama until early 2023.
Nathan Nkuzimana在2023年初之前在一家名为Sama的肯尼亚公司工作。
Sama is a technology company that sold content moderation services to Facebook. Content moderators look at material posted to social media websites such as Facebook for quality control.
Sama是一家向Facebook提供内容审核服务的科技公司。内容审核员负责审查发布在社交媒体网站（如Facebook）上的内容，以进行质量控制。
The 33-year-old Nkuzimana came to Kenya from Burundi to work for Sama. He said he looked at violent and sexual images and videos every workday.
现年33岁的Nkuzimana来自布隆迪，为了在Sama工作而来到肯尼亚。他表示，他每个工作日都要查看暴力和性别不当的图像和视频。
He said he saw a child being sexually violated in one post and a woman being killed in another. Nkuzimana said seeing such horrors damaged his mental health.
他说，他看到过一篇帖子中有儿童遭到性侵犯，另一篇帖子中有一名女性被杀害。Nkuzimana表示，看到这样的恐怖内容对他的心理健康造成了伤害。
Nkuzimana is not alone. He joined about 200 workers from Kenya who are part of a larger group in Africa suing Sama and Facebook. They say they suffered through harmful working conditions.
Nkuzimana并非孤例。他加入了约200名来自肯尼亚的工人，他们是在非洲起诉Sama和Facebook的更大群体的一部分。他们表示自己在有害的工作环境中受到了伤害。
It is the first known international legal case related to Facebook content moderators. In 2020, Facebook settled a legal action against it brought by content workers in the U.S.
这是首次有关Facebook内容审核员的国际法律案件。2020年，Facebook解决了一起由美国内容工作者提起的诉讼。
The Sama workers did their jobs at a Nairobi office. They looked at material that came from Facebook users in Africa. Their job was to remove harmful or illegal posts.
这些Sama工人在内罗毕的办公室里工作。他们审查来自非洲Facebook用户的内容，工作是删除有害或违法的帖子。
The workers in Africa are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation for their work. They say their employers did not pay them enough nor provide them enough mental health support. They also say Sama and Facebook should continue to pay them while courts consider the case.
这些非洲工人正在寻求16亿美元的赔偿。他们表示雇主支付给他们的报酬不足，并没有提供足够的心理健康支持。他们还表示，在法院考虑此案期间，Sama和Facebook应该继续支付他们的工资。
Facebook and Sama both deny the workers’ accusations.
Facebook和Sama都否认了工人们的指控。
A Kenyan court is hearing the case.
肯尼亚法院正在审理此案。
Many of the workers came to Kenya from other countries because Sama paid well. Some earned $429 per month and workers from other countries, including Nkuzimana, made a little more.
许多工人来到肯尼亚是因为Sama支付得很好。一些人每月赚取429美元，而来自其他国家的工人，包括Nkuzimana在内，收入稍高一些。
People who follow technology news say the group in Kenya is the most visible because they are also pushing to form a workers’ group, or union.
关注科技新闻的人们表示，肯尼亚的这个群体是最引人注目的，因为他们还在推动组建工人团体或工会。
While the case is being decided, however, the workers are not being paid. Their work permits have time limitations also.
然而，在案件裁决期间，这些工人没有得到工资。他们的工作许可证也有时间限制。
Away from home
远离家乡
Many of the workers left their home countries because they heard about good pay. But they also wanted to leave because of conflicts at home. Fasica Gebrekidan is from Ethiopia. She left home for Kenya because she did not want to get caught up in her country’s civil war in the northern Tigray region.
许多工人离开自己的祖国是因为听说这里有很高的薪水。但他们也想离开，因为在家乡有冲突。Fasica Gebrekidan来自埃塞俄比亚。她离开家乡来到肯尼亚，因为她不想陷入她所在国家北部提格雷地区的内战中。
She knew of the bad things happening in her country. When she started working for Sama, she said she saw frightening images and videos. In order to make a decision about a video, she would have to watch the first 50 seconds and the last 50 seconds. She would see images of war and rape.
她了解到在自己的国家发生的糟糕事情。当她开始为Sama工作时，她表示她看到了令人恐惧的图像和视频。为了对一个视频做出决定，她必须观看前50秒和后50秒。她会看到战争和强奸的画面。
“You run away from the war, then you have to see the war,” Fasica said. “It was just a torture for us.”
Fasica说：“你逃离战争，然后你必须看到战争。对我们来说，这只是一种折磨。”
Many of the moderators said they started the work at Sama with good feelings. Nkuzimana said he and his co-workers felt like “heroes to the community.” He went on to say that people feel safe looking at Facebook because of workers like him. He compared the workers to soldiers who might be hurt so everyone else can be safe.
许多内容审核员表示，他们在开始在Sama工作时感到很好。Nkuzimana说他和他的同事们感觉自己像是“社区的英雄”。他接着说，人们因为像他这样的工人而感到在Facebook上安全。他将这些工人比作可能会受伤以确保其他人安全的士兵。
But those good feelings turned bad after hours watching harmful material. Nkuzimana said he would come home and close himself in his room so he would not have to speak with his family about what he saw that day.
但是，在观看有害素材的几个小时后，这种好感变得糟糕。Nkuzimana说他会回家关起门来，这样他就不用与家人谈论他那天看到的内容。
The workers said the U.S.-based Sama did not help the moderators work through what they saw. The company, however, said mental health professionals were available to all employees.
工人们表示，总部位于美国的Sama没有帮助他们处理所见到的内容。然而，该公司表示所有员工都可以获得心理健康专业人员的帮助。
Sarah Roberts is an expert in content moderation at the University of California, Los Angeles. She said workers might risk their mental health for a chance to work in technology and make good money.
Sarah Roberts是加州大学洛杉矶分校的内容审核专家。她说工人们可能为了有机会在科技领域工作并赚取丰厚的收入而冒着损害自己心理健康的风险。
When companies like Sama are hired to do work for Facebook, Roberts, explained, it permits Facebook to say the workers are not their employees. In addition, she said, the workers are telling “the story of an exploitative industry.”
当像Sama这样的公司被聘请为Facebook工作时，Roberts解释说，这使得Facebook可以称这些工人不是他们的雇员。此外，她说工人们正在讲述“一个剥削性行业的故事”。
Forever in their heads
永远存在于他们的头脑中
Fasica said she is worried she will never be able to have a normal life. She always sees the images in her head. She called it “garbage” and worried it will be in her head forever.
Fasica说她担心自己永远无法过上正常的生活。她脑海中总是浮现这些图像。她将其称为“垃圾”，并担心它会永远存在于她的头脑中。
She said Facebook should know what is going on with the workers. “They should care about us,” she said.
她说Facebook应该知道工人们的情况。“他们应该关心我们，”她说。
I’m Dan Friedell. And I’m Caty Weaver.
我是丹·弗里德尔。我是凯蒂·韦弗。
Words in This Story
sue –v. to start a legal action because you think you have been hurt by someone else
compensation –n. another word for payment
visible –adj. well-known
