Daniel Motaung is a whistleblower who was previously employed as a content moderator for Meta’s Kenyan outsourcing partner, Sama. Motaung was fired in 2019 after attempting to start a union for content moderators. He has taken Sama and Meta to court in Kenya, alleging that he and his former colleagues are victims of forced labour, human trafficking and union-busting. On June 27 2022, during a court hearing in Motaung’s case, lawyers for Meta and SAMA sought to silence Motaung by imposing a gag order against him, arguing that he risked prejudicing the case by speaking to the press. Meta’s lawyer, Fred Ojiambo, requested that the judge ‘crack the whip’ against Motaung. The initial application for a gag order was declined, but the judge left open the option for contempt of court proceedings to be brought. Following international outcry against attempts to silence Motaung, Meta and Sama confirmed in emails to TIME on July 26 2022 that they do not plan to formally file contempt of court proceedings or pursue a gag order.