By THE HILL
Published on May 22, 2024
A group of nearly 100 tech workers from Kenya wrote a letter to President Biden ahead of Thursday’s Kenya state dinner at the White House, urging him to end “modern day slavery” in the country’s tech sector.
The authors of the letter work as data labelers, content moderators and artificial intelligence (AI) workers for American companies like Meta’s Facebook, ScaleAI and OpenAI.
“US Big Tech companies are systematically abusing and exploiting African workers. In Kenya, these US companies are undermining the local labor laws, the country’s justice system and violating international labor standards,” they wrote in the letter.
“Our working conditions amount to modern day slavery. Any trade-related discussions between the US and Kenya must take into account these abuses and ensure that the rights of all workers are protected,” the letter continued.