© AFP / Glyn KIRK
Migrants in a dinghy sail in the Channel toward the south coast of England on September 1, 2020
Facebook, YouTube and other companies seem so desperate to appear pro-refugee that they're allowing those who exploit them to use their platforms to facilitate illegal migration. This is both misguided and dangerous.
Social media companies are failing to censor, suspend, or ban hundreds of accounts that are linked to people trafficking.
According to Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA)
nearly 500 of the more than 1,200 accounts they reported to Facebook, YouTube, and other sites because they were found to be aiding illegal migration are still up and running.
The NCA's director of threat leadership, Rob Jones, recently told MPs, "We were very certain when we made these referrals that there was a problem with those accounts. To see that level of attrition, with not all those accounts being closed, is challenging for us."
He added that people smuggling into Britain was "flourishing," thanks to Silicon Valley companies' encrypted services providing a "really good, dynamic, agile way for people to move migrants between them, and for groups to communicate." These revelations come following a record-breaking day for English Channel crossings, which saw 409 people enter Britain illegally via small boats launched from France.
Put simply, people smuggling is a very real and serious problem, illegal under both national and international law, and serves only to enrich vile and violent criminal gangs with tentacles reaching right across the globe. Moreover, it's exploitative and immoral.
Why would Silicon Valley want to play a part in enabling this despicable trade to continue?
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