Inside Kenya’s New Law That Could Let Tech Giants Abuse Staff Without Consequences
A Kenyan bill that protects foreign tech outsourcing companies from lawsuits has sparked outrage from digital workers who say it will worsen exploitation in the country’s digital economy.
The Business Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024, also known as Senate Bill No. 51, was passed by the Senate last week without public participation, labour groups say. The law gives immunity to outsourcing firms – many of them contracted by tech giants – from being sued over mistreatment of workers. It now goes to the National Assembly.
President William Ruto openly supported the move, citing past legal battles faced by outsourcing firm Sama, which employed Facebook content moderators in Kenya.
In December 2024, Ruto said the lawsuits almost forced Sama to move to Uganda. “We have changed the law so nobody will take you to court again on any matter,” he told a Nairobi audience, framing the change as a way to attract outsourcing investment like India or the Philippines.
But digital workers say the bill sacrifices their rights to court for foreign corporations. In March, several associations asked for a Senate hearing to discuss the bill – and were ignored. By April, they submitted four memoranda with proposals to strengthen worker protections – and were ignored.
The bill went to its second reading in May and was passed in August without a committee report and without public consultation.
“This law gives immunity to companies that underpay, discriminate and exploit Kenyan tech workers,” said Mercy Mutemi of the Tech Workers Movement, who is also representing moderators in a landmark case against Meta and Sama. “It’s a betrayal of the people powering Kenya’s digital economy.”
Joan Kinyua, President of the Data Labellers Association of Kenya, called the process “flawed” and warned Parliament not to pass the bill. Worker groups are already preparing to challenge its constitutionality if the National Assembly proceeds.
At stake is a precedent-setting case that could make Big Tech companies liable for wrongdoing in subcontracted facilities – a decision advocates say could protect gig economy and AI data labelling workers from abuse. But opponents fear such a ruling will push outsourcing jobs out of Kenya.
The dispute goes back to a three-year legal battle over human rights violations at a Nairobi facility contracted by Meta. Workers there were reportedly paid as little as $1.50 per hour to review violent and explicit content, including videos of rape and murder.
Kenya’s outsourcing workforce includes content moderators, data labellers, ride-hailing drivers, delivery couriers, content creators and freelancers. Many will have no legal recourse against exploitation – and Kenya will be a low-cost labour platform for the global tech industry.
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Inside Kenya’s New Law That Could Let Tech Giants Abuse Staff Without Consequences