The Internet plays a paradoxical role in the illegal activity of human trafficking. On the one hand, the Internet is an integral place for recruiting future victims of trafficking. On the other hand, different social media can contribute to the creation of effective tools for identifying criminals to prevent the possible trafficking. This essay will argue that the problem of Internet use for human trafficking is unsolvable because there are not enough ways to control these processes.
The main peculiarity of the Internet use for recruiting victims is that it allows hiding identity. It is evident that the traffickers do not use their surnames or personal information when they commit these crimes (Prylinski, 2020). Instead, they use cryptocurrencies for financial operations and special browsers to make the trace of their actions impossible. Scholars emphasise the need to create special methods and techniques for proper data mining from sites where criminals operate to identify the most significant patterns of their behaviour and communication (Burbano & Hernandez-Alvarez, 2017). It can help to increase the efficiency of searching traffickers. Nevertheless, criminals can easily transform their way of recruiting in response to the measures of social media management. In reality, the Internet should not be restricted to stop traffickers. There should be a combination of social media responses to users’ reports and the legislative work of parliamentarians (Luzwick, 2017). It is important to emphasize that legislators should not impose more Internet control but find ways of trafficking reduction through other methods.
The main moral of the discussion is that man trafficking is an awful crime that should be restricted. However, it is important to respect the freedom of speech and expression of Internet users. The surveillance in online messengers should not be enacted for the reason of trafficking combating. Thus, the solution to the problem can be found in the proper work of law enforcement and assistance from social media representatives.
References
Burbano, D., & Hernandez-Alvarez, M. (2017). Identifying human trafficking patterns online. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE Second Ecuador Technical Chapters Meeting (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Web.
Luzwick, A. J. (2017). Human trafficking and pornography: Using the trafficking victims protection act to prosecute trafficking for the production of Internet pornography. Northwestern University Law Review, 111, 137-153. Web.
Prylinski, K. M. (2020). Tech trafficking: How the Internet has transformed sex trafficking. The Journal of High Technology Law, 20, 338-372. Web.