The Role of Social Media in Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that involves the exploitation of people for sexual purposes. It is a global problem that affects millions of men, women, and children every year. While sex trafficking can occur in various settings, such as brothels, massage parlors, or hotels, one of the emerging trends is the use of social media platforms to contact, recruit, and sell victims.

How Traffickers Use Social Media

Social media has been an important tool in creating awareness and sparking activism around sexual assault. Survivors have come forward in droves to tell their stories of assault and harassment through social media platforms, which has undoubtedly resulted in greater public awareness of the pervasiveness of this problem worldwide.

Unfortunately, social media has also opened new avenues for sexual violence against women. Human trafficking is one major example of this. As the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women approaches on November 25, let’s shine a light on the role social media plays in facilitating this violence, and figure out how to stop it.

Traffickers use social media and technology for all stages of the trafficking, including recruiting and identifying future victims, gaining control over their victims, and advertising their victims. Some of the ways they do this are:

• Recruiting and identifying victims: Traffickers often groom and control their victims through online platforms. Between 2015 and 2018, the National Human Trafficking Hotline documented almost 1,000 cases of potential victims of sex trafficking alone who were recruited through internet platforms, most often Facebook, but also Instagram, Snapchat, Craigslist, online dating sites, and chat rooms. A recent nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 American kids age 13 to 17 found that 70 percent of them used social media multiple times a day. Predators can easily pose online as someone looking for a date in order to build trust and recruit victims. Traffickers often identify vulnerable young people through their social media presence. For example, posts that may suggest low self-esteem, problems at home, or loneliness can signal to a trafficker that a person may be easily victimized. Recruiting victims online is generally much less risky than recruiting victims in person.

• Gaining control over victims: Sometimes when victims are recruited through social media sites, they never even meet their traffickers in person. A 2018 study found that 55 percent of domestic minor sex trafficking survivors who became victims in 2015 or later reported meeting their traffickers for the first time using text, a website, or a mobile app. The study also found that 58 percent of victims eventually met their traffickers face to face, but 42 percent of those who initially met their traffickers online never met their traffickers in person but were still trafficked. In these cases, the power over the victims tends to be exerted through grooming and manipulation, as well as coercion and threats that equal “sextortion.” According to the FBI, sextortion is a serious crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you don’t provide them images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children began tracking this trend in 2013. The center has seen a dramatic increase in sextortion cases reported.

• Advertising victims: Traffickers also use social media to advertise their victims and reach potential buyers. They may post photos or videos of their victims on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok, or use hashtags or keywords to attract customers. They may also use encrypted messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, to communicate with buyers and arrange transactions. Some traffickers also use the dark web, which is a part of the internet that is not accessible by standard browsers or search engines, to sell their victims anonymously and avoid detection by law enforcement.

How to Prevent and Combat Social Media-Facilitated Sex Trafficking

The role of social media in sex trafficking is alarming and disturbing, but there are also ways to prevent and combat it. Some of the possible solutions are:

• Educating and empowering youth: One of the most effective ways to prevent sex trafficking is to educate and empower youth about the risks and signs of online exploitation, and how to protect themselves and their peers. Parents, teachers, and mentors should have open and honest conversations with children and teens about the dangers of social media, and teach them how to use it safely and responsibly. They should also encourage them to report any suspicious or inappropriate online activity to a trusted adult or authority. Additionally, youth should be empowered to develop their self-esteem, critical thinking, and decision-making skills, and to seek help when they face challenges or difficulties in their lives.
  

• Strengthening laws and policies: Another way to combat sex trafficking is to strengthen the laws and policies that protect victims and prosecute traffickers. There should be clear and consistent definitions of what constitutes sex trafficking, and what are the roles and responsibilities of different actors, such as social media companies, law enforcement agencies, and service providers. There should also be adequate funding and resources for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of sex trafficking cases, as well as for the protection, recovery, and reintegration of victims. Furthermore, there should be more collaboration and coordination among different sectors and stakeholders, both nationally and internationally, to share information, best practices, and lessons learned.

• Holding social media companies accountable: A third way to combat sex trafficking is to hold social media companies accountable for their role in facilitating this crime. Social media companies should implement and enforce policies and standards that prohibit and prevent the use of their platforms for sex trafficking purposes. They should also monitor and moderate their content and users, and promptly remove any illegal or harmful material or activity. They should also cooperate and collaborate with law enforcement and civil society organizations to report and respond to sex trafficking cases, and to provide evidence and data that can help identify and locate victims and traffickers. Moreover, they should invest in developing and deploying technologies and tools that can detect and deter sex trafficking on their platforms, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain.

Conclusion

Sex trafficking is a grave violation of human rights and dignity that affects millions of people around the world. Social media has been a double-edged sword in this issue, as it has been used both to raise awareness and to facilitate exploitation. It is imperative that we understand the role of social media in sex trafficking, and take action to prevent and combat it. By educating and empowering youth, strengthening laws and policies, and holding social media companies accountable, we can make a difference in the fight against this heinous crime.