Report: Smugglers Of People Openly Advertise Services On Facebook

Hands tied up with rope against brick wallWith over 2 billion active users around the world, Facebook is a vital tool for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. However, that also includes individuals who may be promoting an illegal service. A new report from Sky News this week detailed how many human traffickers are openly using Facebook to advertise their services and tout “success stories.”

According to the report, human smugglers often focus on crafting a “reputation” online, not unlike how reputable businesses seek good reviews from customers. As a result, the smugglers post video testimonials from migrants and refugees who successfully make it into Europe by using the smugglers’ services. However, these sunny posts leave out how dangerous—and illegal—this kind of journey is. Thankfully, experts are also analyzing the posts to stop these operations in their tracks and save innocent people.

“As everywhere, education matters,” Dr. Paolo Campana, an expert in criminal networks, told Sky News. “Accessing and evaluating information through channels such as Facebook could mean the difference between life and death.”

Of course, the question must be asked: how much does Facebook know about this problem, and what can it do about it? The company’s policies forbid this kind of illegal activity from taking place on its pages, but enforcing those rules is a different and far more difficult task.



Recommended Resources

bitdefender trafficlightBitDefender Traffic Light is a free cross-browser add-on that intercepts, processes and filters all Web traffic, blocking any malicious content and taking browser security to new levels.

PIAPrivate Internet Access is an award-winning, cost-effective VPN solution. The use of an anonymous and trusted VPN is essential to your online privacy, security and identity protection.

System Mechanic 14 – Make your computer run like new. Winner of 200+ Editor’s Choice awards!

Report: Smugglers Of People Openly Advertise Services On Facebook Previous post Report: Smugglers Of People Openly Advertise Services On Facebook Facebook Rolls Out “Related Articles” Feature In Fight Against Fake Content  Next post Facebook Rolls Out “Related Articles” Feature In Fight Against Fake Content