A United Nations migration official called Thursday for Facebook
to police its site and its WhatsApp messaging subsidiary for use by
abusive human smugglers.
Leonard Doyle, director of media and communication at the UN
International Organization for Migration, said that Facebook and
WhatsApp have become the media of choice for people smugglers in
the Middle East and Africa to advertise their services and make
arrangements with migrants.
But many of those groups abuse migrants, taking travelers
hostage and beating them to demand ransoms from their families, he
said.
As it now blocks violent jihadist groups like Islamic State from
promoting itself on Facebook pages, Facebook should police people
smugglers doing the same thing, Doyle said in an online discussion
hosted by Refugees Deeply, a migration-focused media group.
“They have turbocharged the access to smugglers,” he said.
“Big tech companies have a huge responsibility that they are not
living up to.”
Smugglers use all kinds of social media and messaging
applications to communicate, but Facebook’s pages, private groups
and the Facebook Live video app, as well as WhatsApp, are by far
the most popular, according to experts.
Leonard noted that people searching for child pornography on
social media can get warnings that what they are doing is
illegal.
Facebook and others need to do the same to help stem migration
abuses, Doyle said.
Facebook especially needs to help crack down on the extortion
taking place, with West Africans the leading targets. Smugglers
kidnap migrants, torture them and use social media to send pictures
and video to families to demand money.
“We cannot continue to allow people to be tortured, Doyle
said.
He said that Facebook has largely ignored his overtures, putting
him in contact with low-level officials who do little to help.
“They say its hard, but they don’t really try,” he said.
“The motivation of the big tech companies is to get customers….
There’s a kind of race for market domination in the developing
world.” (AFP)
A United Nations migration official called Thursday for Facebook
to police its site and its WhatsApp messaging subsidiary for use by
abusive human smugglers.
Leonard Doyle, director of media and communication at the UN
International Organization for Migration, said that Facebook and
WhatsApp have become the media of choice for people smugglers in
the Middle East and Africa to advertise their services and make
arrangements with migrants.
But many of those groups abuse migrants, taking travelers
hostage and beating them to demand ransoms from their families, he
said.
As it now blocks violent jihadist groups like Islamic State from
promoting itself on Facebook pages, Facebook should police people
smugglers doing the same thing, Doyle said in an online discussion
hosted by Refugees Deeply, a migration-focused media group.
“They have turbocharged the access to smugglers,” he said.
“Big tech companies have a huge responsibility that they are not
living up to.”
Smugglers use all kinds of social media and messaging
applications to communicate, but Facebook’s pages, private groups
and the Facebook Live video app, as well as WhatsApp, are by far
the most popular, according to experts.
Leonard noted that people searching for child pornography on
social media can get warnings that what they are doing is
illegal.
Facebook and others need to do the same to help stem migration
abuses, Doyle said.
Facebook especially needs to help crack down on the extortion
taking place, with West Africans the leading targets. Smugglers
kidnap migrants, torture them and use social media to send pictures
and video to families to demand money.
“We cannot continue to allow people to be tortured, Doyle
said.
He said that Facebook has largely ignored his overtures, putting
him in contact with low-level officials who do little to help.
“They say its hard, but they don’t really try,” he said.
“The motivation of the big tech companies is to get customers….
There’s a kind of race for market domination in the developing
world.” (AFP)