CW: Discussion of Saddam Hussein and PTSD

Who remembers 2006? I sure do. As evidenced by my first post, obviously I do.

Who remembers when Saddam Hussein was executed? I remember that too.

It was a late Friday night. I used to read Daily Kos several times a day and that day was certainly no exception (this may seem like a long walk to my point but stick with me). It was also the first time, I think, that I visited YouTube. Daily Kos had posted a flash about the execution late that Friday night.

Why does this stick with me? Because buried in the comments was a link to YouTube of an illicit cell phone video of the act iself. It scarred me a little, had it not it’s possible I’d have been able to forget it.

Now, you’re probably thinking “what the hell does this have to do with anything?” Because YouTube (and Facebook and Twitter and and and…) content moderators are getting PTSD.

Casey Newton has the deets:

Content moderators for YouTube are being ordered to sign a document acknowledging that performing the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to interviews with employees and documents obtained by The Verge. Accenture, which operates a moderation site for YouTube in Austin, Texas, distributed the document to workers on December 20th — four days after The Verge published an investigation into PTSD among workers at the facility.

Go read the whole thing, please.