Geldenhuys, K. (2019). The role of social media in facilitating human trafficking. Servamus Community Based Safety and Security, 112(7), 18-20. Web.
The aim of this article is to examine how social media facilitates human trafficking. The author explains how traffickers use the accessibility and anonymity of social media platforms to find and take advantage of their victims. The report details particular strategies that traffickers employ on social media, such as pretending to be modeling agencies or advertising job prospects to get victims into risky circumstances. Furthermore, the article highlights why it is difficult to recognize and stop human trafficking in social media. It is contributed in part by the lack of collaborations from social media companies. According to the article, more education and action oriented initiatives are necessary to combat the criminal act. The law enforcement personnel should receive better training on how to detect and investigate human trafficking activities through social media. The paper gives a succinct and understandable explanation of how social media contributes to human trafficking, stressing the various strategies traffickers utilize and the difficulties in combating this problem.
One strength of this article is the use of a narrative to show how social media aids in human trafficking. It tells the story of Mandy, an adolescent girl who decided to look for happiness in social media and ended up as a trafficking victim. The detailed analysis of the case presented in the article shows how human traffickers use social media to discover and exploit their victims. The other strength of the article lies on its extensive referencing. The author’s opinion is backed up by factual sources, which makes the article reliable for an essay about human trafficking through social media. On the other hand, the weakness of the article is its brevity which limits its analysis of the issue. Therefore, it may be challenging for those who are unfamiliar with social media or human trafficking to understand the author’s claims. Furthermore, the article lacks empirical support for its arguments about the problem. Despite the author’s thorough research of the subject, the article’s findings are only partially supported by empirical data. As a result, it can be harder for scholars to cite the publication in their work and the author’s views could be less credible. The article gives a comprehensive overview of how social media contributes to human trafficking overall. Although it is brief and lacks empirical support, it, however, offers researchers a useful place to start when trying to comprehend the problem. The article serves as a good starting point when giving context and background data on the subject.
Gezinski, L. B., & Gonzalez-Pons, K. M. (2022). Sex trafficking and technology: A systematic review of recruitment and exploitation. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1-15. Web.
The article aims to establish the link between social media platforms and human trafficking following the American government’s responsive implementation of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Traffickers Act (FOSTA-SESTA) in 2018 after digital media was associated with sex trafficking. The article purposed to unearth the available evidence of the role of social media in perpetuating the crime and how the agents use the platform to perpetrate the act. The work used two articles to provide practical proof of how the medium facilitates crime. According to the article, social media provides the opportunity for perpetrators to identify, track, and obtain their targets. The culprits are people well known to the victims such as friends, relatives, and partners, and use their relationships to entice their unsuspecting targets. The article explains that the agents befriend their victims and lure them with offers such as employment opportunities, romantic relationships, education, or financial favors, before implementing their true intentions. In addition, the victims who are most desperate narrate and expose their weak points by posting their challenges such as financial, employment, or relationship problems, giving the perpetrates to hit. Being close and familiar individuals, the victims become unsuspecting because they have no reason for fear.
According to the article, social media further aids sex traffickers by providing the means to track the locations and movements of the targets. Lindsay states that since most of the traffickers using digital media in their course are close to the victims, most of the cases rarely get documented as most victims fail to report and stay silent. The strength of the article is its extensive research; it uses 21 studies to examine the issue and obtain their arguments. The articles provided the needed empirical evidence, giving more light to the work. In addition, the extensive research gave the article credibility, and the scholarly backup made it more accurate. Secondly, the article recommends strategies that can be used to improve media technology to prevent human trafficking and support the survivors. The article explains how digital technology can be used to conduct sensitization and create awareness about human trafficking among people. Similarly, the article recommends ways of employing digital technology to improve security by identifying the potential culprits and trailing the perpetrators before they commit the offense. Finally, the work sees social media as means of tracking the victims and helping the survivors.
Hernández-Álvarez, M. (2019). Detection of possible human trafficking in Twitter. In J. Aguilar (Eds.), 2019 International conference on information systems and software technologies (ICI2ST) (pp. 187-191). Web.
The article explores the use of social media sites, particularly Twitter, to gather and disseminate details about potential trafficking victims. The study aims to examine the most popular platforms, identify incidents connected to social media, evaluate how it is used to collect data on specific persons, and learn the information taken from social media accounts to find victims. The article opens by emphasizing the alarming rise in incidents of human trafficking throughout the world and the necessity of successful measures to address this problem. The author contends that social media sites have developed into a new medium for the solicitation of human trafficking and that it is essential to identify and stop such behavior there. The next section of the article concentrates on Twitter as a possible source for identifying human trafficking and suggests a way to spot tweets that utilize questionable terminology indicative of trafficking. The suggested methodology is analyzing tweets with trafficking-related keywords using tools for natural language processing. The survey discovered that the terms “sex,” “young,” and “girl” were most frequently used in tweets on human trafficking. According to the findings, social media sites can help spot potential human trafficking activities, and NLP methods can be utilized to spot suspicious tweets.
The study emphasized how critical it is to comprehend the many social media channels that are utilized for trafficking solicitation. The article suggests that the most popular medium for sex trafficking include Facebook, followed by Instagram and Snapchat. The article contends that Twitter is less utilized for crime; however, it should still be considered a viable source of information for spotting human trafficking operations. Moreover, the study gives instances of how social media was utilized to gather and disseminate details on possible trafficking victims. One such instance includes the use of Snapchat to entice young women to work in the UK sex industry. Another instance includes the Middle East’s use of Facebook to entice women into forced labor. The strength of the article lies in its elaborate explanation of how to detect human trafficking Twits and cases of crime through the different platforms. It also highlights the most used social media platforms to peddle crime. One weakness of the article is that it may have used a limited set of features to identify potential cases of human trafficking on Twitter. This could limit the accuracy of the detection algorithm and potentially miss important signals. However, it provides adequate information for an essay about the use of social media in human trafficking.
Hernández-Álvarez, M., & Granizo, S. L. (2021). Detection of human trafficking ads on Twitter using natural language processing and image processing. In T. Ahram (Ed.), Advances in artificial intelligence, software, and systems engineering: Proceedings of the AHFE 2020 virtual conferences on software and systems engineering, and artificial intelligence and social computing, July 16-20, 2020, USA (pp. 77-83). Springer International Publishing. Web.
This article aims to identify human trafficking advertisements on Twitter using the image and natural language processing. The study offers a method for identifying Twitter advertising that promotes human trafficking by looking at the text and visual content of the adverts. The researchers utilized Twitter’s API to gather 238,055 tweets on human trafficking and then ran a preliminary analysis to determine which phrases were used the most frequently. They also ran image analyses on the photographs from the tweets to find any questionable visual elements. The findings demonstrate that the method can accurately identify probable human trafficking adverts, highlighting the potential for combining natural language processing and picture analysis to detect human trafficking on social media. The finding contributes to the available knowledge on how to utilize technology to spot human trafficking on social media. The study sheds light on how image and natural language processing may be used to spot human trafficking advertisements on Twitter. The report also emphasizes how crucial it is to identify human trafficking on social media sites, given the rise in the usage of these sites for solicitation.
The article’s strength is in its contribution to the creation of automated technologies that can detect and report information on social media that supports human trafficking. It can aid in the prevention and prosecution of criminals. The authors also give a thorough explanation of it to make it simpler for other researchers to adopt their methodology. However, one weakness of the article lies in its focus on Twitter as the only social media examined. The research emphasizes the importance of examining human trafficking advertisements on various social media platforms but focuses solely on Twitter. Given Twitter’s unique characteristics in comparison to other social networking sites, the study’s conclusions can be applied only to this particular site. Furthermore, it was challenging to determine the validity of the authors’ conclusions since they did not disclose the size and representativeness of their sample. The study only looked at text and pictures, so it’s possible that it missed anything on social media that contains audio or video evidence of human trafficking. Overall, the study offers significant insights into the use of social media to facilitate human trafficking. Therefore, it is a very important source for an essay about how social media is used to solicit human trafficking.
O’Brien, J. E., & Li, W. (2020). The role of the internet in the grooming, exploitation, and exit of united states domestic minor sex trafficking victims. Journal of Children and Media, 14(2), 187-203. Web.
The article analyzes how social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other digital mediums are aiding in human trafficking, with a major focus on minor domestic sex trafficking. Digital media is becoming the vehicle for perpetrating the sex trafficking of young people as most culprits use various social media platforms to trap, monitor, and obtain their victims. The objective of the article is to establish the role of social media and the larger digital media in domestic minor sex tracking grooming, exploitation, and exit, by analyzing the various ways the perpetrators use to entice and commit the inhuman act. According to the article, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, and Instagram provides the stage for sex traffickers to spot their victims who are vulnerable and unsuspecting. The perpetrators who are mostly known to them use the medium to befriend them and act nice only to take the opportunity to hit. Since the victims are unaware of their plans, they fall into their traps and only realize later after they have become victims. Obrien & Li explain that domestic minor sex traffic victims are always blinded by the fake niceness of the perpetrators, leading them into their trap. Afterward, the traffickers use digital media to track their locations and movements. Obrien analyzes the experiences of the victims during the exploitation and how they escaped the ordeal
The strength of the article relies on its extensive research. Obrien & Li conducted an effective study by interviewing and getting experiences from the real victims of the inhuman act. The article contains the testimonies and accounts of the 20 individuals who are former victims of the exploitation and thus can be used to mitigate the problem in the future. Secondly, the article properly backs its argument with enough, up-to-date, and credible sources, making it more accurate. While it serves to promote the vice, social media can be used to fight human trafficking and domestic minor sex trafficking in particular. According to the article, digital media provide a platform for sensitization against human trafficking. Since it is widely embraced by minors and other potential victims, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok among others can be used to educate and create awareness about trafficking, thereby enforcing vigilance. In addition, digital media can be used by relevant authorities to track the culprits and potential perpetrators of the inhuman act.
Raets, S., & Janssens, J. (2021). Trafficking and technology: Exploring the role of digital communication technologies in the Belgian human trafficking business. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 27, 215-238. Web.
The article examines how digital communication technologies are employed in the Belgian human trafficking industry. The article provides a general overview of how technology is used in human trafficking. According to the authors, digital communication technologies are becoming a crucial instrument used by traffickers to find and take advantage of victims. Furthermore, the article examines the applications of social media in Belgium. The writers list a variety of tools that traffickers utilize, including mobile phones, social media, and online ad networks. They contend that modern technologies have made it simpler for traffickers to enlist and take advantage of victims since they can reach a larger audience and have more influence over their victims. The article provides cases of the use of social media to facilitate human trafficking. One instance is the use of social media to recruit teenage girls from Romania. Social media is also used as a platform for sex sales services. These instances demonstrate the numerous ways that technology is applied to Belgian human trafficking. The article also highlights the challenges of investigating and prosecuting cases of social media-related trafficking. The authors argue that criminals use encryption and anonymity to avoid being discovered by law enforcement. They urge law enforcement agencies to be more aggressive when handling cases of technology-related human trafficking. Moreover, law enforcers need to enhance their technological skills and collaborate with international agencies to curb crime.
The strength of this article lies in its empirical evidence. The article’s findings concerning the involvement of digital communication technologies in human trafficking are supported by empirical research done in Belgium. The study is also an in-depth analysis by examining several issues surrounding the use of digital communication platforms to locate and recruit victims through social media, messaging apps, and online marketing. Furthermore, it is considered a reliable source since it is published in the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research which is an authoritative peer-reviewed criminology publication. The main weakness of this article is the limited geographical scope. The study was carried out in Belgium, which might restrict its applicability in other situations. To have a more comprehensive understanding of the problem, it is vital to take into account additional information sources. Human trafficking procedures might differ dramatically between nations. Moreover, there is no discussion of solutions in the paper, and no recommendations are made for how to deal with the problem. However, this article provides a valuable contribution to the literature on the use of digital communication technologies in human trafficking, particularly in the context of Belgium.
Ukachi, N. B., & Attoh, F. (2020). Trafficked women, patriarchy and social media: The case of Benin City, Nigeria. Covenant Journal of Communication. Web.
The study investigates the connection between social media, patriarchy, and the trafficking of women in Benin City, Nigeria. It specifically seeks to comprehend how social media plays a part in the trafficking of women and how patriarchy supports trafficking in the area. The authors interviewed 30 trafficked women and 10 key informants, such as law enforcement officers, social workers, and non-governmental organizations, as part of a qualitative study that also included focus groups and interviews. Thematic analysis was used to examine the data. According to the report, social media significantly contributes to the trafficking of women in Benin City. Social media sites like Facebook and WhatsApp are used by traffickers to find and contact potential victims. Gender inequality and patriarchal traditions in the area also support trafficking. Women and girls are more susceptible to trafficking since they are seen as less valuable than males and are compelled to relocate for economic reasons. The study also found several other variables, such as poverty, a lack of education, and a lack of employment possibilities, which support human trafficking in the area. The issue is also exacerbated by bad law enforcement and governmental corruption.
The strength of this article lies in its focus on a particular setting. It enables the authors to offer in-depth insights into the local dynamics of human trafficking and social media use. The authors conducted interviews and held focus groups with recruiters, social workers, and trafficked women to get a thorough knowledge of how social media is used to entice women into trafficking. The paper offers crucial insights into the intricate connections between social media, patriarchy, and trafficking in Benin City. The findings can help shape policy and programmatic responses to fight trafficking in the area since the qualitative research techniques utilized give a deeper picture of the problem. The study does, however, have some weaknesses, such as limited sample size and possible bias in participant selection. Furthermore, there is limited capacity to generalize its findings to other situations is constrained because the study only examines one Nigerian city. Despite these weaknesses, the study adds to the expanding body of knowledge on trafficking and social media and emphasizes how crucial it is to deal with the underlying issues that contribute to traffickings, such as patriarchy and gender inequality. Overall, the paper highlights the necessity for a comprehensive strategy to combat trafficking in the area by offering insightful information on the intricate interactions between social media, patriarchy, and trafficking in Benin City.