Row over job losses after Meta smart glasses sex revelations

Meta is under pressure to explain why it cancelled a major contract with a company it was using to train AI, shortly after some of its Kenya-based workers alleged they had to view graphic content captured by Meta smart glasses.

In February, workers at the company, Sama, told two Swedish newspapers they had witnessed glasses users going to the toilet, and having sex.

Less than two months later, Meta ended its contract with Sama, which Sama said would result in 1,108 workers being made redundant.

Meta says it's because Sama did not meet its standards, a criticism Sama rejects. A Kenyan workers' organisation alleges Meta's decision was caused by the staff speaking out.

Meta has not addressed that allegation but told BBC News in a statement it had "decided to end our work with Sama because they don't meet our standards".

Sama has defended its work.

"Sama has consistently met the operational, security and quality standards required across our client engagements, including with Meta," it said in a statement.

"At no point were we notified of any failure to meet those standards, and we stand firmly behind the quality and integrity of our work."

In late February, Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) and Goteborgs-Posten (GP) published an investigation which included the accounts of unnamed workers who had been asked to review videos filmed by Meta's glasses.

"We see everything - from living rooms to naked bodies," one worker reportedly said.

At the time of the publication, Meta admitted subcontracted workers might sometimes review content filmed on its smart glasses when people shared it with Meta AI.

It said this was for the purpose of improving the customer experience, and was a common practice among other companies.

However, the revelations have prompted regulators to act.

Shortly after the Swedish investigation, the UK data watchdog, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) wrote to Meta about what it called a "concerning" report.

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Kenya also announced it was commencing an investigation into privacy concerns raised by the glasses.

In a statement in response to news of the redundancies a Meta spokesperson told the BBC, "last month, we paused our work with Sama while we looked into these claims.

"We take them seriously. Photos and videos are private to users. Humans review AI content to improve product performance, for which we get clear user consent."

In September Meta in partnership with brands Ray-Ban and Oakley.