Three former contractors who worked moderating content on Facebook have broken their strict nondisclosure agreements to reveal the shocking conditions at one Facebook office.
The three, who spoke to the Verge for a lengthy report, worked at a Tampa office of Cognizant, one of the professional services firms that Facebook hires to police content for violence, extremism, child pornography and other banned content.
They describe a high-stress environment where 'process executives', as Cognizant calls moderators, are paid $15 an hour to pore over disturbing content at filthy shared desks and a single dirty bathroom shared by 800 employees, all while attempting to apply Facebook's ever-changing standards to controversial posts.
'It's a sweatshop in America,' said Melynda Johnson, who began working at the Tampa site in June 2018 and left in March. 'Every bit of that building was absolutely disgusting. You'd go in the bathroom and there would be period blood and poop all over the place. It smelled horrendous all the time.'
Michelle Bennetti (left) and Melynda Johnson (right) began working at the Tampa site in June 2018 and left in March. 'It's a sweatshop in America,' said Johnson
Inside the nondescript building in an office park, workers say that 800 employees share a single filthy bathroom under constantly stressful work conditions
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Facebook spokesman said: 'We work with our content review partners to provide a level of support and compensation that leads the industry.'
'There will inevitably be employee challenges or dissatisfaction that call our commitment to this work and our partners' employees into question. When the circumstances warrant action on the part of management, we make sure it happens,' the spokesman continued.
Cognizant did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com.
Cognizant told the Verge that it 'strives to create a safe and empowering workplace'.
One of the most disturbing stories shared by employees at the Tampa facility was the death of employee Keith Utley at his desk on March 9, 2018.
Utley, a retired lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard and married father of two, slumped over at his desk, and was pronounced dead of a heart attack a short while later.
Keith Utley, seen above, was a former Coast Guard lieutenant commander, died of a heart attack at his desk aged 42 at the Tampa office in March 2018
A job ad for 'social media content moderators' at Cognizant is seen above
'The stress they put on him — it's unworldly,' one of Utley's managers told the Verge. 'I did a lot of coaching. I spent some time talking with him about things he was having issues seeing. And he was always worried about getting fired.'
Cognizant told the Verge that 'there is no indication that this medical condition was
