Former TikTok moderators sue over emotional toll of 'extremely disturbing' videos
Two women who reviewed hundreds of TikTok videos each week for violent and graphic content say the company ignored the psychological trauma they suffered on the job and pushed them to meet quotas.
When Ashley Velez accepted a job last year reviewing videos for TikTok, "we were told we would be the front line of defense from protecting children from seeing violence," she said.
But the Las Vegas mother of two boys, ages 8 and 17, said she was stunned when she discovered what the position entailed.
"We would see death and graphic, graphic pornography. I would see nude underage children every day," Velez said in an interview. "I would see people get shot in the face, and another video of a kid getting beaten made me cry for two hours straight."
Velez worked for TikTok from May to November 2021, one of some 10,000 content moderators worldwide who police videos on the platform, making sure it remains
