Google and Facebook among giants ‘making profits’ from pop‑up brothels
External Link/Members OnlyBackPage is a major issue, also AW specifically mentioned near the end of this long article.
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No 10 considers new laws on sex traffickingMarch 4 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
Web companies have become the “key enabler” for sexual exploitation of trafficked women, according to the National Crime Agency
Internet giants were accused of profiting from sex trafficking in Britain last night as security chiefs warned of a new wave of “pop-up brothels” sweeping the country.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) last night accused firms such as Google and Facebook of “making profits” from the trafficking of vulnerable women, many of whom end up in temporary sex clubs and massage parlours that have sprung up around the country.
The agency’s “modern slavery tsar” said web companies have become the “key enabler for the sexual exploitation of trafficked victims in the UK” and demanded action.
“Pop-up” sex clubs have been discovered in Cornwall, Cambridge, Swindon and holiday cottages in the Peak District, which recently enraged the Bishop of Derby, Alastair Redfern.
The Sunday Times also found three such clubs operating last week in luxury flats near Hyde Park, central London.
Theresa May was briefed on the growth of online sex trafficking on Wednesday at a meeting of the modern slavery taskforce — established by the prime minister.
Last night senior government sources said ministers are considering new laws to make internet giants such as Google and Facebook liable when human traffickers use their sites to “pimp” their victims to potential clients.
Downing Street officials said that May and Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, are examining landmark legislation being passed in America that for the first time would make technology firms and social media giants responsible if they publish content that leads to trafficking.
In a statement issued by Downing Street, May said: “Modern slavery destroys the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society. All too often we see criminal gangs coerce people with false promises of a better life, only to treat their victims as commodities for sexual exploitation.
“As the hosts of user-generated content, internet companies can and should be doing more to prevent trafficking-related material from appearing on their platforms.”
Will Kerr, the NCA’s head of vulnerabilities, said: “People are using the internet and social media sites to enable sexual exploitation and trafficking.
“It is clear that the internet platforms which host and make a profit out of this type of material need to do more to identify and stop these forms of exploitation.”
The US laws, which were resisted for months by the Internet Association, an organisation funded by Google, Facebook and others, will overturn more than 20 years of blanket immunity afforded to web companies that profit from criminality on their sites.
It means that if people advertise the services of trafficked women and children and clients find them using Google or Facebook, the tech giants could be criminally liable.
The legislation, which is expected to pass through the Senate shortly, makes firms liable if they “knowingly assist, support or facilitate” content that leads to trafficking. It was brought in specifically in response to Backpage.com, which has been labelled a “hub of human trafficking, especially the trafficking of minors”.
Last week the UK version of the listings site was still hosting hundreds of explicit postings for sexual services in Britain. Many were also cross-listed on Facebook.
The tech giants have spent millions on lobbyists to water down and delay the new US internet regulations in the name of free speech. Facebook and other web companies backed down late last year and agreed with amendments to the legislation, although Google still believes that Backpage.com should be targeted with the existing laws.
This weekend senior sources in both Downing Street and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said they are “looking at” whether and how to replicate the action in the UK, but pointed out that this can be done only when it leaves the EU in March 2019. A Downing Street source said: “We are looking at this. The prime minister has made clear that Brexit gives us opportunities and one of the areas where we might diverge from EU rules is in the digital arena.”
Some cases involving traffickers’ use of internet sites to commit their crimes have recently passed through the UK courts.
Last May David Archer was jailed for 13 years for running a £16m prostitution empire using an adult website that can be accessed via Google and Facebook.
The Essex property tycoon trafficked “vulnerable” women into the UK and put them to work in a string of hotels and brothels.
Their services were advertised on a website called AdultWork, which is freely available on Google and has a community page on Facebook that features scantily clad photographs of women.
This weekend a Westminster council taskforce revealed that it had uncovered three luxury flats in the London borough being used as “pop-up brothels”. Investigators found that the properties were booked and advertised to clients using websites.
It is understood that Google does not profit from AdultWork as it has a zero-tolerance policy for adverts that promote escort services and prostitution.
Facebook said it welcomed the new US legislation.
