A Nigerian woman employed as a TikTok content moderator in Kenya has been found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, who worked for Teleperformance, a company contracted to oversee TikTok content moderation, was discovered deceased on Friday, March 7, in Nairobi.
Ladi’s family, who had not seen her since she moved to Kenya in 2022, is now seeking answers regarding her untimely death.
Her body was found outside her Nairobi apartment.
According to CNN journalist Larry Madowo, some of her coworkers claim she had repeatedly been denied leave requests.
However, her employer, Teleperformance, has denied these allegations.
Some colleagues of Ladi have suggested that she was dealing with stress and exhaustion due to the demanding nature of her job, and that her repeated requests for time off had been rejected.
Teleperformance has labeled these claims as “baseless and untrue.”
Although Ladi was entitled to one return ticket home per year, she had not returned to Nigeria since relocating to Kenya.
Content moderation, particularly for platforms like TikTok, is known to expose employees to disturbing and sometimes violent content, which can lead to significant mental health challenges.
In January 2025, President William Ruto announced that TikTok had set up operations in Kenya, emphasizing the company’s integrity and encouraging both investors and locals to collaborate with them.
TikTok had previously been implicated in a BBC investigation, where it was accused of profiting from sexual live streams performed by minors as young as 15 in Kenya.
Three women came forward, revealing that they used TikTok to advertise and negotiate payments for explicit content, which was then sent via other messaging platforms.
According to BBC reports, moderators indicated that TikTok was aware of these activities and took a cut of around 70% from all live-stream transactions.
In response to these allegations, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) announced on March 6 that it would take immediate action against TikTok.
The CA ordered TikTok to remove all content related to child exploitation, including livestreams.
The Authority also confirmed it had launched a formal investigation into the allegations and was working with relevant government agencies to identify any legal violations.
“CA will not hesitate to issue sanctions,” the statement concluded.
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