KEY POINTS
  • A contractor who worked as a moderator for YouTube through 2019 alleges the company and its third-party vendors failed to support employees tasked with viewing violent content.
  • The plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe, said she had to view mass murders, abortions and bestiality among other violent videos.
  • Her lawsuit alleges the companies didn't adhere to their own moderation standards and didn't provide necessary information prior to her starting the job.
Symbolic photo on the topic of upload filter. An youtube icon for blocked content .

A former YouTube moderator is suing YouTube, accusing it of failing to protect workers who have to catch and remove violent videos posted to the site. 

The suit filed Monday in California Superior Court in San Mateo says the plaintiff was required to watch murders, abortions, child rape, animal mutilation and suicides. As a part of moderator training, the company allegedly presented a video of a "smashed open skull with people eating from it," a woman who was kidnapped and beheaded by a cartel and a person's head being run over by a tank.