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  1. CHAPTER 1 SEX TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA THROUGH FACEBOOK

CHAPTER 1 SEX TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA THROUGH FACEBOOK

Having a giant social media platform, such as Facebook, has become heavily dominated by its users which creates many opportunities for people to connect and reach one another. Its rapid appeal and accessibility have made users around the world develop friendships, relationships, groups, and more. However, with roughly 2.5 billion monthly users worldwide, there are concerns about the ease of accessibility of users’ data and the implications of privacy amongst users.

Sex trafficking is defined by the non-profit organization, Shared Hope International, as the “[event] when someone uses force, fraud, or coercion to cause a commercial sex act with an adult or causes a minor to commit a commercial sex act” (What is Sex Trafficking, Shared Hope International, 2020). The illicit industry thrives most successfully through manipulating and abusing victims through a social media network. According to Shared Hope International, the common age a child enters the sex trafficking world is between 14 to 16 years old.

With the increasing use of social media among adolescents, sexual predators are becoming craftier in targeting victims for sex trafficking. By establishing an online relationship and other grooming techniques, sexual predators are manipulating their interactions on social media platforms.

If Facebook were to monitor specific actions such as falsifying identity and asking for sexual online conduct this will perhaps deter and stop the use of online sex trafficking. Social media is a constant evolving system that doesn’t have all of the protection it needs. Facebook leads the world in amount of internet users, and in this writer’s opinion, it needs to be on the forefront in confronting this issue.

The increasing use of social media enables predators to seek out and recruit victims through social networking sites. The overall goal is outsmarting their manipulation of users by understanding and exposing their techniques. Technology, in particular social media networks such as Facebook, becomes a bigger risk to younger females. Social networks like Facebook are a feeding ground for sexual predators with the use of media as a tool to lure, recruit, and control victims.

The need for social platforms being proactive on this issue is paramount. The social stigma, misrepresentation, and misinformation about sex trafficking leaves victims to be unidentified and voiceless. Providing assistance to current and potential victims can break the hold the sex traffickers have on them. The places sexual predators are finding their victims are at schools, bars, or inside homes among family. However, the biggest avenue for sexual predators discovering their next target is social media platforms.

Facebook needs to be aware of these techniques and monitor them in order to protect their users and its brand. Knowing the process of recruiting for online sex trafficking will protect users and be more aware of the dangers on social media.

Recruitment for sex trafficking has been reported with victims interacting on Facebook first. According to a 2018 research report, “A Roadmap For Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking”, from the nonprofit organization Polaris written by Brittany Anthony, 250 potential victims were recruited on Facebook. According to the site, “Facebook pages are just some of many ways commercial front sex trafficking venues enhance the guise of their businesses legitimacy online and in their communities” (A Roadmap For Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking, Anthony, 2018). Anthony also recorded many survivors’ testimonies, and they said they were first recruited into sex trafficking through the groups on Facebook.

From the report, the survivors were surveyed and questioned on which social media platforms were the most popular among sex traffickers. Out of the 127 respondents, 37 percent reported that Facebook was used most. Sexual predators lurking on social media platforms have a likely pattern of falsifying their identity, using suggestive adult content with minors, and coercing victims with blackmail and threats.

In April 2018, the Allow States and Victims Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTASESTA) was signed by President Donald Trump Jr. with the hopes of stopping sex trafficking of minors. According to the Congress.gov website, the FOSTA-SESTA holds sites accountable for any knowledge and distribution of promoting prostitution and sale of sex trafficking. This amendment law is based on the current Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

According to the online website Electronic Frontier Foundation, Section 230 was made in 1996 with the intention of protecting freedom of expression and innovation on the Internet. From the website, it explains how websites would not be liable for their users’ actions or content, and it gives freedom of not censoring (eff.org). The law has protected websites in the past because of users’ actions and the content posted on its websites.

However, the new amendment law will change the current Section 230. The new amendment claims to not provide legal protection to “websites that unlawfully promote and facilitate prostitution and…the bill defines ‘participation in a venture’ to mean knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating a sex trafficking violation” (Congress.gov). With upholding the FOSTA-SESTA, social media companies, such as Facebook, may be held responsible for not securing its users against sex traffickers.

Moreover, at present, Facebook has a legal obligation on the issue equal to a moral standard. With a 2018 lawsuit filed against Facebook by a human trafficking survivor, the social media giant must face critique and seek to resolve this lawsuit. A spokeswoman from Facebook delivered a written statement, in summary, of how the network abides by the law and has a partnership with children’s advocacy group. This lawsuit can have reputable damages to any social media company to the point where it can destroy and tarnish the company’s trust, reputation, and hold them lawfully liable.

The lawsuit came forward on the news in October. The online news article, “Lawsuit Accuses Facebook of Enabling Human Traffickers”, from NBC at Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas written by Juan Lozano. In the article, Lozano reported that a human trafficking survivor is suing the social media platform for “[providing human traffickers an unrestricted way to ‘stalk, exploit, recruit, groom… and extort children into the sex trade”. In 2012, The unidentified survivor was 15 years old after a sex trafficker recruited her from Facebook and sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit, in summary, has claimed Facebook should be “held liable for the conduct of sex traffickers because the social media site has become the ‘first point of contact between sex traffickers and these children’” (Lawsuit Accuses Facebook of Enabling Human Traffickers, Lozano, 2018). This lawsuit has damaged the reputation of keeping its users safe and from being exploited. Should the lawsuit be found in the favor of the survivor, Facebook can face $1 million in damages and potential federal charges. The responsibility of any company would ensure that its users are well managed and refrain from any worry of sex traffickers abusing its website.

A New York Times online article, “Sex Trafficking via Facebook Sets Off a Lawyer’s Novel Crusade”, written by Jack Nicas, reported Facebook’s response to the lawsuit. The social media platform asked the Texas state judge to dismiss the lawsuit due to the immunity under Section 230. Furthermore, a spokeswoman from Facebook reported that the company “has zero tolerance for any behavior or content that exploits children on our platform” (Sex Trafficking via Facebook Sets Off a Lawyer’s Novel Crusade, Nicas, 2019). The ruling in favor of the victim can do reputable harm to the company and open a door for more social media platforms becoming more scrutinized and monitored.

The Houston lawyer on case, Annie McAdams, is taking on the social media giant and making a point with the case. In the article, McAdams “argues that her case is about what Facebook didn’t do to protect its users” (Sex Trafficking via Facebook Sets Off a Lawyer’s Novel Crusade, Nicas, 2019). Her recommendation for the company was to require better restriction on interactions between adults and children, and there would need to be more warnings for people at risk of trafficking.

Another lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, reported on the article on her agreeance with McAdams. In the article, Goldberg understands if Facebook is reprimanded, “it could force companies to make their sites safer” (Sex Trafficking via Facebook Sets Off a Lawyer’s Novel Crusade, Nicas, 2019). The trial date is set within 2021 which will most likely be held in the Texas Supreme Court.

This has sown a deeper dilemma with the social network. An analysis report from the Tech Transparency Project (2020) concluded that Facebook is used by predators in the attempts of sexually abusing children. The analysis details cases where sexual predators have lured users—most were underage—into engaging sexual activity leading them into the life of sex trafficking and exploitation of children. In the Tech Transparency Project analysis, the social network has promised to make efforts in combatting against child exploitation by building sophisticated systems in locating the crime.

Since the FOSTA-SESTA law, there has been an increasing number of cases in which Facebook reported child exploitation; this suggests Facebook may be have become more proactive due to the potential for litigation (Sexual Exploitation of Children on Facebook, 2020). However, from the Tech Transparency Project analysis report (2020), a customized code was scanned on texts from U.S Attorney’s website of the Department of Justice for any mentions of Facebook; they were able to identify 366 individual cases involving alleged sexual predators using the social network for child exploitation which included distribution of sexual abuse imagery, recruiting children, and sex trafficking. In majority of the cases, the social network had not provided any initial alert to the authorities.

In fact, only 9% of the 366 cases were initiated because of Facebook or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (which received cyber tips from Facebook) reported them to authorities, and thus raising questions about the effectiveness of Facebook’s monitoring of criminal activity targeting children (Sexual Exploitation of Children on Facebook, 2020). While the social network has made its own attempts to curve the criminal activity on its website, it is clear that a new strategy needs to become more effective.

There has already been a recorded history of distrust between Facebook and its users. According to the online news article from the New York Times, “California Sues Facebook for Documents in Privacy Investigation”, written by Cecilia Kang and David McCabe, Facebook had an investigation due to alleged resistance on providing answers and questions on the company’s privacy practices. Having concerns on alleged mistreatment on users’ information and privacy has made the social media platform questionable. If there are concerns on privacy, the sex trafficking lawsuit compromises the integrity of Facebook.

Another instance where users feel unease when using social media has been the overall misuse of data and collection of personal information. From the online Pew Research Center, the article, “Americans’ Complicated Feelings About Social Media in an Era of Privacy Concerns”, written by Lee Rainie, users are concerned with increasing use of social media and the dangers that come along with it.

From the article, research collected from a 2014 survey explain “91% of Americans ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that people have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by all kinds of entities” (Americans’ Complicated Feelings About Social Media in an Era of Privacy Concerns, Rainie, 2020). The fear that these users have, the concerns of Facebook misusing its users’ information, and the lawsuit can drive users away from the social media platform and deter others too.

Users want social media companies stepping up to take on the role of being responsible and accountable. According to the article, “95 of social media users were ‘very confident’ that the social media companies would protect their data” (Americans’ Complicated Feelings About Social Media in an Era of Privacy Concerns, Rainie, 2020). The lack of trust in social media platforms hurts brands like Facebook, and it creates a fear and unsafe environment on the platform.

It is known that Facebook has the largest number of users in the world. Dr. Vanessa Bouché gave a detailed report, “Survivor Insights: The Role of Technology in Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking”, on how sex traffickers are using social media platforms to lure, recruit, and exploit users. The report explained that Facebook is the number one site mentioned in being used and accessed for sex traffickers. Sex trafficked victims, who reported their experiences, saw that Facebook had advertisements for trafficking with an average of 5 posts a day.

Bouché reported that 70% of buyers of sex trafficking were in communication via Facebook. This is very problematic because “Facebook not only provided an unrestricted platform for these sex traffickers to target children, but it also cloaks the traffickers with creditability” (Lawsuit Accuses Facebook Of Enabling Human Traffickers, Lozano, 2018). Sex traffickers are using the social media platform to increase their activity.

At the University of Southern California, a 2018 research report, “Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds”, written by Mark Latonero detailed the methods of understanding the relationship between domestic human trafficking and online technologies. His method of approach included literature reviews, field research, and indepth interviews.

Based from his report, he attested news reports are “connecting Facebook to cases of human trafficking, as traffickers use social networking sites to target victims and advertise their sexual service” (Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds, Latonero, 2018). The report goes into detail on how prevention efforts can diminish the usage of trafficking victims via online. Facebook has made successful efforts in addressing the issue; however, sex traffickers continuously use the social media platform to communicate with potential victims.

A way of managing and combatting the issue of sex trafficking on Facebook is the terminology used in its term of use. For example, “Facebook prohibits registered sex offenders from using its site” (Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds, Latonero, 2018). However, other sites specifically state that human trafficking, child pornography, and prostitution are not allowed.

For instance, the website Backpage.com has direct terms on their site curbing any human trafficking: “posting any solicitation directly or in ‘coded’ fashion for any illegal service exchanging sexual favors for money or other valuable consideration” (Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds, Latonero, 2018).Terminology that has direct language will affect and prohibit any illicit activity that may occur on Facebook.

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