The Moderator: Inside Facebook's Dirty Work in Ireland

by Chris Gray

As a Facebook moderator Chris Gray spent his days looking at horrendous images of self-harm, killing and the worst of human behaviour, with just a short period of training and an employee handbook to guide him. Viewing disturbing online content became a way of life for him.
Years later, the psychological trauma of his job hit him like a ton of bricks and he was diagnosed with PTSD.
In this eye-opening account, we follow his quest to hold the behemoth Facebook to account for his PTSD – a journey that would ultimately lead him to take legal action against one of the world's most powerful corporations.
The Moderator is the story of the mental health fallout from this very new type of job and an exploration of one of the most important questions of the 21st when everybody has direct communication with everybody else in the world, what should people be allowed to share, when is it okay to silence them – and who decides?

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2022

Reviews

[Laura S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book interesting but very surface level. Would have been better if it was written after the court case had finished.

[Cliona Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have liked to hear more about the court case but overall extremely eye opening!

[izzi reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish it. Started very good, I was fascinated by everything he was telling us, but then it just got long and long… get to the point.

[Sacha Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually nuts. When your photos get reported online for having a bit of nipple there's acc real people flagging it up and this book is ab seeing all kinds of mad shit from abuse, porn, beastiality like EVERYTHING and on minimum wage. This is about the PTSD he and many other moderators suffered and how they are fighting back with court cases. Naughty Mark Zuckerberg. Randomly he also completely criticises how the teams were structured and there's lots of management and business advice alongside the criticisms of his job. So kinda learnt a bit about being a girlboss which you can't complain about.

[Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a very interesting read which gives an insight into the author's experience as a content moderator for Facebook and the ensuing trauma is caused.
It was slightly repetitive and a bit boring at times because he writes a lot about his legal case, which I wasn't as interested in, but still a good and insightful read nonetheless.

[Barra Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Well written 👍

An eye opener for anybody using Facebook. You'll think twice about it once you've read this. Worth the read though.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and insightful read, especially for someone who works in social media. I took the authors advice and skipped the last chapter.

[Boryana Genova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read the book ahead of a book club discussion, not that I needed convincing that content moderation is not my cup of tea.