June 21, 2023

University of Oxford: AI could help detect unregulated sources of air pollution in South Asia, new project shows

University of Oxford: AI could help detect unregulated sources of air pollution in South Asia, new project shows . “A collaboration between the University of Oxford and Lahore University of Management Sciences has combined the power of artificial intelligence with remote satellite imagery to help tackle the problem of unregulated brick kilns across South Asia. These kilns are a major source of air pollution, a key contributor to climate change, and notorious for people trafficking and modern-day slavery.”

Research & Opinion 0
January 29, 2023

Montclair State University: Global Center on Human Trafficking Partners with Department of Homeland Security

Montclair State University: Global Center on Human Trafficking Partners with Department of Homeland Security. “The Global Center on Human Trafficking (GCHT) at Montclair State University and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Division signed a Memorandum of Understanding on January 25 for the development of a web-based application and website to aid in the fight against human trafficking.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
January 19, 2023

BuzzFeed News: Thousands Of Fake Twitter Accounts Were Made To Support Andrew Tate

BuzzFeed News: Thousands Of Fake Twitter Accounts Were Made To Support Andrew Tate. “Escaping content featuring misogynist influencer Andrew Tate can be hard on social media — and according to new research, that’s because thousands of accounts posting favorable content about him are actually bots. The Center for Countering Digital Hate announced on Wednesday that it had found 4,621 fake Twitter accounts created to promote Tate. The bot accounts tweeted 15,202 times in support of the former kickboxer, who is in pretrial detention in Romania.”

Research & Opinion 0
January 1, 2023

Andrew Tate arrest: TikTok and Twitter under fire over false posts from fans (The Guardian)

The Guardian: Andrew Tate arrest: TikTok and Twitter under fire over false posts from fans. “Social media firms are under fire this weekend for allowing the spread of misinformation by followers of ‘king of toxic masculinity’ Andrew Tate after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking investigation. In the hours after his detention, TikTok and Twitter were flooded with posts falsely claiming he had been freed and conspiracy theories saying he had been set up, Observer analysis shows.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
December 29, 2022

Daily Beast: Teen Sold into Sex Slavery After Facebook Did Nothing for 24 Hours

Daily Beast: Teen Sold into Sex Slavery After Facebook Did Nothing for 24 Hours. ” In the weeks before Agnes was allegedly put up for sale, leaked internal documents reveal that Facebook found and disabled nearly 130,000 pieces of content and over 1,000 accounts as part of a search for content that sought to trade and sell domestic servants in the Middle East and North Africa. The problem was so big that earlier that year they had already expanded their ‘Human Exploitation Policy’ which was supposed to ban the recruitment, facilitation, or exploitation of domestic servitude on their platforms with improved technology to detect the messages. None of these brand new policies did anything to prevent the post about Agnes.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
October 13, 2022

North Carolina State University: New Computational Tools to Help Target Sex, Labor Trafficking Operations

North Carolina State University: New Computational Tools to Help Target Sex, Labor Trafficking Operations. “Researchers from North Carolina State University collaborated with a counter-human trafficking organization, Global Emancipation Network, to develop computational models that can help fight human trafficking. The models draw on publicly available data to identify massage businesses that are most likely to be violating laws related to sex trafficking and labor trafficking.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
August 13, 2022

BBC: Tiktok: Suspected gangs tout English Channel migrant crossings on platform

BBC: Tiktok: Suspected gangs tout English Channel migrant crossings on platform. “Suspected people smugglers are using TikTok to advertise illegal entry into the UK via the English Channel. The BBC has found a number of people claiming they can guarantee safe passage and calm waters for £5,000. The Home Office said posts which ‘promote lethal crossings’ were unacceptable, but there are calls for more to be done to stop people-smuggling being advertised online.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 27, 2022

First on CNN: Human smugglers peddle misinformation to US-bound migrants on Facebook, watchdog says (CNN)

CNN: First on CNN: Human smugglers peddle misinformation to US-bound migrants on Facebook, watchdog says. “Human smugglers frequently misrepresent immigration policies and conditions along the US-Mexico border in Facebook and WhatsApp social media posts targeting US-bound migrants, according to a report released Wednesday by a tech transparency group.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 20, 2022

WIRED: A Lawsuit Against Meta Shows the Emptiness of Social Enterprises

WIRED: A Lawsuit Against Meta Shows the Emptiness of Social Enterprises. “EARLIER THIS YEAR, Meta and its largest content moderation partner in Africa, Sama, were accused of union busting, forced labor, and human trafficking. The lawsuit claims that ‘misleading job ads’ lured potential employees from across Africa who, once realizing the true nature of the work, often had no means to get home. And when content moderator Daniel Motaung attempted to organize his colleagues for better working conditions and pay, Sama fired him.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 18, 2022

Vice: From Industrial-Scale Scam Centers, Trafficking Victims Are Being Forced to Steal Billions

Vice: From Industrial-Scale Scam Centers, Trafficking Victims Are Being Forced to Steal Billions. “From industrial-scale scam centers in Southeast Asia, criminal syndicates have spent the pandemic perfecting an intricate romance-meets-investment fraud called Shāzhūpán (pig butchering scams). Teams of scammers use sophisticated scripts to ‘fatten up’ their targets, grooming individuals like [Cindy] Tsai and enticing them into investment schemes increasingly centered on cryptocurrency, before going in for the ‘slaughter’ and stealing their money.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
April 1, 2022

University of Arkansas: Law Students Create National Survey of State Law Privileged Communications for Human Trafficking Service Providers

University of Arkansas: Law Students Create National Survey of State Law Privileged Communications for Human Trafficking Service Providers. “[Savannah] Luna and [Alex] Millsap worked tirelessly to research and review existing resources and communications protected by state law privilege. The result is the National Survey of State Law Privileged Communications for Human Trafficking Service Providers, an extensive online tool accessible to all those who need it.”

New Resources 0
December 7, 2021

Channel deaths: People smugglers touting openly on Facebook (Sky News)

Sky News: Channel deaths: People smugglers touting openly on Facebook. “Finding a route across the channel is as easy as typing ‘smuggler’ into Facebook. Far from being a hidden world, Sky News has found that a network of smugglers is operating openly on the social media platform. Routes into Europe and the UK are regularly highlighted, with posts featuring images of the Union Jack and Big Ben. One smuggler even claimed he would be able to make customers a British passport.”

Security & Legal Issues 0

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