A woman who worked as a TikTok content moderator is suing the social media company and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly failing to take measures to protect her mental health after she watched videos of cannibalism, rape and suicide.
She says watching the content has left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Candie Frazier, who worked for a third party company used by TikTok, has launched a class-action lawsuit, alleging TikTok had not followed industry standards for protecting moderators.
She said TikTok should have implemented safeguards such as blurring or reducing video resolution to protect moderators from witnessing the content.
The court filing alleges Frazier witnessed videos of death, murder, cannibalism, suicide, animal cruelty and child abuse as part of her job.
The lawsuit also said there was pressure on the staff to watch as many videos as possible in their 12-hour shifts, due to employee monitoring that tracks moderators online and via camera.
Frazier said she had developed panic attacks and depression as well as symptoms associated with anxiety and PTSD.
A TikTok spokesperson told news.com.au the company was promoting a caring environment.
“While we do not comment on ongoing litigation, we strive to promote a caring working environment for our employees and contractors. Our Safety team partners with third party firms on the critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally,” they said.
Frazier is seeking compensation from TikTok for mental health treatment for her and other moderators, as well as for the company to establish a medical fund.
Help is available.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual assault, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
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