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Facebook announced today that it will open its first content review centre in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in partnership with Samasource, a social enterprise and one of the largest digital employers in East Africa. The launch of the centre, which will be located in Nairobi, Kenya, is part of Facebook's commitment to safety and security on its social networking platform.   

The social media giant said the centre will employ approximately 100 reviewers by the end of the year, who will support a number of languages, including Somali, Oromo, Swahili and Hausa.

“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,” said Fazdai Madzingira, Public Policy Associate for content.

As of December 2017, Facebook had 177,005,700 users in Africa. Founded in 2004, Facebook is the biggest social networking service with 2.32 billion monthly active users globally as of the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Statista. Last year, the social media platform was embroiled in a scandal involving the unauthorized and unethical exploitation of data of its users by Cambridge Analytica. The company has since been working with regulators across different jurisdictions to address security and privacy issues.  

“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 said. “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.”

Samasource has a mission to reduce global poverty by outsourcing digital work to unemployed people in poor countries.

“As one of the largest digital employers in East Africa, we’re excited to partner with Facebook in Nairobi to help keep people on Facebook safe and continue our mission,” Carolyn Komen, Samasource Programme Director said. She added that its team will receive extensive training and support, benefit from industry-leading facilities, and have the opportunity to advance their careers in tech through this partnership.