The popular online gig-economy platform, Remotasks, is no longer accessible in Kenya. The platform which allows users from all walks of life to complete small, online tasks such as image and video labelling, contributing to the training and development of AI models, and make money, now shows an error message when you try to access it locally. The reason for this hasn’t been made clear.
This serves a significant blow to Kenyan youth who made a living off the platform. Attempts to log onto the platform’s website for additional information about the discontinuation were unsuccessful, with the site responding with a message indicating “Sorry you have been blocked”.
Remotasks, via email, notified its users in Kenya about its decision to cease operations in the country starting March 8. The email also mentioned that users with ongoing projects were terminated from the platform.
However, it guaranteed that any outstanding payments would be disbursed to the account holders and advised those with inquiries to reach out to their support system.
“We are reaching out with an important announcement regarding Remotasks operations in your location. We are discontinuing operations in your current location effective March 8, 2024,” part of the email shared by account holders read.
“As part of this change, you have been off boarded from your current project. You will receive payments associated with your work completed via the payment account set up on your profile.”
While the specific cause for the suspension of accounts was not disclosed, Remotasks follows a set of guidelines outlining circumstances under which an account may be suspended.
These include creating multiple accounts, providing false account information, misrepresenting identity, providing inaccurate location details, or sharing account credentials with others.
Additionally, poor work quality, utilizing third-party tools for task completion, and accessing the platform via a VPN (a cybersecurity tool masking internet location) are also cited as potential reasons for suspension, according to information available on the website.
