DiPLab’s Antonio Casilli: Where Have Barcelona’s Facebook Moderators Gone? (Lecture at ESADE)
The recent termination of Meta’s contract with Telus International in
Barcelona—which resulted in over 2,000 content moderators losing their
positions—prompted ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de
Empresas) to invite DiPLab co-founder Antonio Casilli to address the broader
implications of this workforce disruption. The event was part of the kick-off
for the DigitalWORK research project, which explores how digital technologies
are transforming work and promoting fair, equitable and transparent labor
conditions, with Anna Ginès i Fabrellas and Raquel Serrano Olivares (Universitat
de Barcelona) as principal investigators.
The Barcelona layoffs represent more than just another corporate restructuring.
For Casilli, they exemplify the precarious nature of digital labor that
underpins the global AI and social media ecosystem. In his presentation, Casilli
analyzes global labor arbitrage in AI production, discussing how companies like
Meta leverage geographic wage differentials to reduce operational costs, with
Barcelona serving as a mid-tier location between Silicon Valley headquarters and
Global South outsourcing destinations. In the subsequent debate with ILO senior
economist Uma Rani, Antonio Casilli also addresses potential regulatory
responses and worker rights, exploring policy interventions to protect digital
workers from arbitrary contract terminations and ensure fair compensation for
data workers.