AP Photo/Esteban Felix
11 Jun 2021
Human smugglers continue using Facebook to advertise safe passage to the U.S., a practice that has increased in recent months during the ongoing migration crisis at the southern border.
Through the use of Facebook groups and pages, human smugglers are able to advertise their services by promoting routes and rates. According to a new report by the Tech Transparency Project, smugglers post videos showing groups of migrants successfully crossing desert areas and the Rio Grande.
After being presented with a list of 50 groups which advertised human smuggling services, Facebook only took down half, the report explained.
Facebook has been forced to shut down dozens of coyote groups after being blamed for fueling the border crisis as human smugglers use its platform to organize the passage into the US.
Nineteen pages on Facebook purportedly offering human smuggling services to help migrants illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border remained active on the platform for a least a month despite the company being notified about them, a report says.