'Stressed' Facebook moderator dies of heart-attack after viewing hundreds of child abuse videos

A Facebook moderator died of a heart attack after being subjected to hundreds of horrific videos on the social media site.

Keith Utley, 42, worked the overnight shift at a Facebook content moderation site in Tampa, FL, operated by Cognizant, a professional service contractor.

But the company had fallen short of accuracy targets relating to banning offensive content on the platform.

Mr Utley had spoken out about how the grotesque videos were affecting his mental health as he was struggling with the content he was seen.

On March 9, 2018, Mr Utley died of a heart attack sat his desk.

Co-workers noticed that he was unwell when they saw him sliding out of his chair.

Two colleagues performed CPR, but no defibrillator was available in the building. A manager called for an ambulance.

Mr Utley died in Hospital but the exact circumstances of his death have not been released.

By the time paramedics arrived, one worker said that Keith had already begun to turn blue.

Read more on Yahoo News UK:

Inside Facebook: Whistleblowers lift the lid on 'cult-like' social media giant

Facebook to ban white nationalist hate speech following Christchurch attack

Mother held in Dubai over Facebook posts says she 'wanted to die'

Speaking to moderators at the company, The Verge heard how Mr Utley faced 'relentless pressure' from bosses to enforce community rules.

One of the other employees said: “The stress they put on him — it’s unworldly. I did a lot of coaching.

"I spent some time talking with him about things he was having issues seeing. And he was always worried about getting fired.”

Another said that managers at the site had instructed employees not to discuss the death.

The employee said: "Everyone at leadership was telling people he was fine.

"They wanted to play it down. I think they were worried about people quitting with the emotional impact it would have."

The Verge also hear how employees at Cognizant alleged the company was “a sweatshop in America”.

One worker allegedly threatened to “shoot up the building” in a group chat, while another made a video of himself issuing death threats to his boss.

Facebook unveiled measures to contract around 30,000 cyber-security employees around the world to scour the site and uphold security..

But in January, a group of ex-Facebook employees accused the company of having a ‘cult-like’ workplace culture.