Prominent Nigerian language, Hausa will be one of the focus languages when social media giant, Facebook opens its content review centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The proposed centre, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, is a part of Facebook’s continued investment across the region and commitment to the safety and security of its platform.
To be launched in partnership with Samasource – one of the largest digital employers in East Africa, the content review centre would be in charge of what’s allowed on Facebook.
“Over the years, we have made significant investments globally, and locally in ensuring that people see the content they want to see, and are aware of what is and isn’t allowed on the platform… We want Facebook to be a place where people can express themselves and freely discuss different points of view, whilst ensuring that it remains safe for everyone.”
Fazdai Madzingira, Public Policy Associate for content, Facebook.
Apart from Hausa, the centre is also expected to support other African languages like Swahili, Somali and Oromo. This is the main essence of the review centre – to combat language/cultural differences in diverse countries, which has been difficult for the global team.
Facebook would also be employing 100 reviewers by the end of the year to work at the centre.
“This further highlights our commitment to serving the community of people using our platforms across Africa, as well as our commitment to continuing to invest and partner locally across the continent. I am delighted that through our partnership with Samasource we will be opening our first content review centre here in Africa.”
Ebele Okobi, Facebook’s Public Policy Director, Africa.
Facebook has over 15,000 content reviewers providing support in more than 20 sites around the world. Some reviewers are based in Morocco and the Philippines, while others are based in the United States, Germany, Latvia, Spain and other places.
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