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Product cover image for Sama: Content Moderation in the Digital Economy

Sama: Content Moderation in the Digital Economy

Susy Shu, Pankhuri Agarwal, Hari Bapuji

Product #:W52277
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Strategy, Sustainability
Setting:Kenya, 2023
Details:Case (PDF) • 13 pages • 2026-11-03

Subjects:

International businessStrategy

Industries:

AI, big data, and cloud computing industry

Geography:

United StatesEuropeKenyaAfricaLuxembourgNorth America
Your Price:$10.54

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In April 2023, Wendy Gonzalez, chief executive officer of Samasource Impact Sourcing Inc. (Sama), a US-headquartered data annotation firm with major operations in Kenya, learned that 183 former employees had filed a legal petition in the Employment and Labour Relations Court at Nairobi. The petition named three parties: Sama, Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta), and Majorel Group Luxembourg SA (Majorel). Sama was a business process outsourcing firm that provided content moderation services for Meta’s Facebook platform. The former content moderators alleged exclusion from employment with Majorel and reported lasting psychological harm from exposure to harmful online content, holding both Sama and Meta responsible. Gonzalez had to determine how to respond to the case and reassess Sama’s position in the artificial intelligence (AI) global value chain (GVC).

Learning Objectives

This case can be used in undergraduate or postgraduate courses on business and society, responsible business management, and social sustainability, particularly within modules addressing the governance and management of AI, GVCs, supply chain management, human resource management, and business ethics.


After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Develop an understanding of the AI GVC and the actors therein.
  • Critically analyze the balance between operational and ethical concerns around worker well-being in a GVC.
  • Understand power relations and governance of responsibility in GVCs.
  • Evaluate value creation, capture, and distribution across the AI GVC.
  • Create and justify a strategic response to a managerial dilemma in the AI GVC that balances legal, operational, and strategic considerations.
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Case Study: Sama: Content Moderation in the Digital Economy (English version) | Ivey Publishing