A tech transparency group released a report on Friday that human smugglers utilized Facebook to advertise services to migrants.
Human Smugglers Advertised Services on Facebook
Facebook is the leading social media platform in the world and it can reach billions of people from different cultures and countries. It is supposed to be a tool used to socialize and meet new friends but this has become the main tool of illegal business to some people.
According to a recently published article in CNN News, human smugglers utilized Facebook to offer services to migrants who want to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. This is after the report was released by a tech transparency group.
In a report from the Tech Transparency Project, they identified 50 Facebook pages, and more than half were created during mid-November. Meanwhile, the group also added that a dozen popped up last month, according to a published report in WISH TV.
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The report said that most of the pages used terms or descriptors like "coyote," a commonly used term used for human smugglers, to signal the service being offered, or even categorizing the page as a "travel company."
Moreover, the content of each page, however, was consistent: selling the trip to the United States. The pages were titled "Cruse Seguro," which translates to "Secure Crossing," as well as "Viajes an Estados Unidos," which translates to "Trips to the United States," and "Cruse a USA," which translates to "Cross to the United States," according to a published report in Local News 8.
Facebook Released a Statement
A Facebook spokesperson told a news outlet "We prohibit content that either offers or assists with human smuggling. We have removed this content and will continue to do so. We will review this report once we see it and take action against anything that violates our policies."
Meanwhile, director of the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project Katie Paul said "In the related pages, at least a third of the pages we identified, Facebook was serving up to us in the related pages, especially ones on travel. Facebook would recommend other travel pages, but they were smuggling pages."
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Incidents of Human Smuggling in the Southern Border
A human smuggling activity made a headline recently after a Border Patrol officer released the video of two young Ecuadorian sisters who were illegally dropped in the border wall in an attempt to reach the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that "The inhumane way smugglers abuse children while profiting off parents' desperation is criminal and morally reprehensible," He shared an incident earlier this month where a six-month-old was thrown into the river and a young girl drowned and died.
Moreover, the U.S. Customs Border and Protection also confirmed the increase of illegal migrants who attempted to cross the Southern Border. According to their report, they apprehended more than 172,000 migrants in March, or an increase of 71 percent compared to their apprehensions in February.
