Behind the Screen: The Dark Web of Tech-Facilitated Human Trafficking

BEHIND THE SCREEN: THE DARK WEB OF TECH-FACILITATED HUMAN TRAFFICKING

By Lorraine Aguti

 

In today's technological era, it is a part of life one cannot do without. It brings people together, facilitates services, and opens doors to opportunities. But the very same instruments that empower and unite can be used to exploit too. Nowhere is that a truer statement than in the era of human trafficking, where technology is increasingly used to recruit, control, and conceal victims of modern slavery.

 

Traffickers utilize social media platforms, messaging platforms, job advertisement websites, and cryptocurrency networks to conduct their businesses. These platforms offer anonymity, quickness, and a worldwide reach—making them well-suited to exploit vulnerable individuals across borders. In 2021, a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime stated that online technologies are utilized at all points of the trafficking process, from recruitment to control and exploitation.

 

Another common method used by traffickers is false recruitment through the internet. For example, traffickers frequently post fictitious advertisements on websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and local advertisements with the objective of luring women and young individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The victims are lured through the offer of jobs, educational opportunities, or travel abroad, which eventually come to an end with them being forced to engage in domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, or forced labor in the destination country. In Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, there have been reports of women being enticed over WhatsApp and Telegram with the assurance of being offered hotel jobs or working as models, then being trafficked into brothels once they arrived.

 

Online romance scams are another point of entry into exploitation. A trafficker can build a relationship with a potential victim on dating websites, before pressuring them to relocate, typically across the globe. Cut off from their support networks, the victim is vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation. These tactics are not only inexpensive for traffickers to use, but also difficult to monitor—especially when conducted on apps such as Signal, which are encrypted, or messaging apps such as Snapchat, where messages disappear after viewing.

 

Technology also plays a central role in enabling traffickers to advertise and sell victims. A case in point is the recently closed Backpage.com, a classifieds website used pervasively to advertise sexual services, many of which involved trafficked individuals, including children. The platform was shut down in 2018 following federal investigations but has since resurfaced on other platforms such as Craigslist, MegaPersonals, and other private social media groups that are more difficult to monitor. The dark web also provides a secret marketplace where the traffickers can post victims and no one on the mainstream side of the law will even realize it.

 

The economics of the trade have been revolutionized equally by technology. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero offer the trafficker a semi-anonymous platform for payment processing. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, and it is possible for them to be difficult to trace, which allows for the relatively unregulated flow of large amounts of money. In Southeast Asia, among others, cryptocurrency was employed by illegal syndicates to launder proceeds of scam compounds trafficking operation where persons have been coerced into performing online fraud.

 

Victim control has also become simpler and more devious with digital technology. Victims are occasionally provided mobile phones with GPS monitoring or spyware by traffickers, effectively keeping them under round-the-clock observation. Traffickers in other situations threaten to post compromising images or videos—usually taken without the consent of those involved—on revenge porn websites or through family contacts, a method of digital blackmail that induces victim cooperation. This technology exploitation not only steals victims' privacy, but their psychological liberty to seek assistance.

 

The internet infrastructure itself can be taken over as well to serve to facilitate trafficking operations. The U.S. government sanctioned in March 2024 the Karen National Army, a Myanmar militia group that was using Starlink satellite internet to power trafficking and scam dens in rural areas. These facilities were used to confine and manipulate trafficked employees from across Asia, who were forced to conduct online fraud. This case tells us how even the latest technology intended for universal good can become misused under governance and control-free environments. 

 

It's a challenging exercise for law enforcers to cope with such cybercrimes. Encrypted sites, jurisdictional lines, and innovation speed make it difficult to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. However, some technological innovations are being used to turn the tide. Groups like Thorn and Polaris are applying artificial intelligence to identify trafficking victims through analyzing online postings, photos, and suspicious web activity. US and European law enforcement agencies now utilize digital forensic computer software to analyze chat logs, financial transactions, and location pointers to track victims and hunt offenders.

 

Cellebrite, a company well known for its digital intelligence software, has partnered with NGOs to provide hardware that speeds up the locating of missing children. These efforts prove that technology, although an instrument of harm, can also be an agent of protection and justice—if used wisely and in partnership.

 

The fight against human trafficking in the internet age is a multi-pronged one: governments must clamp down on tech platforms; social media platforms must enhance content moderation and work with law enforcement; and civil society must continue to raise awareness. At the same time, we must continue to develop ethical tech solutions that detect trafficking networks and support survivors in rebuilding their lives.

 

Technology will continue to evolve, but so must our strategy to ensure it uplifts and not exploits. The challenge of the times is to harness the power of tech for the common good and close the digital doors traffickers use to operate with impunity.

 

References:

  1. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “How traffickers abuse online technology.” UN News, October 2021. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1104392
  2. Wired. “Starlink Is Powering Human Trafficking Compounds in Southeast Asia.” April 2024. https://www.wired.com/story/starlink-scam-compounds
  3. Wired. “How Tech Disrupts Sex Trafficking.” June 2013. https://www.wired.com/2013/06/bias-as-disruption-how-tech-disrupts-sex-trafficking
  4. UNODC. “Technology Facilitating Trafficking in Persons.” https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/tip-and-som/module-14/key-issues/technology-facilitating-trafficking-in-persons.html
  5. Associated Press. “US sanctions Myanmar armed group for cyber scams and trafficking.” March 2024. https://apnews.com/article/7915e341c8490e527af64084bb0e2694
  6. Wired. “How Facial Recognition Is Fighting Child Sex Trafficking.” https://www.wired.com/story/how-facial-recognition-fighting-child-sex-trafficking
  7. Associated Press. “Cellebrite Donates AI Tools to Find Missing Children.” https://apnews.com/article/ff6f41657273be8e4159bf3b530ffb05

 

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