How Facebook, Tinder, Airbnb, and other apps are being used to facilitate cross-border sex trafficking of minors
Bloomberg compiled information from several girls who say they have been victims of sexual exploitation, as well as more than 20 representatives from law enforcement, academia, local businesses and nonprofits that work to curb child trafficking, alleging that popular social networking sites like Facebook, the dating app Tinder and the home-rental booking site Airbnb are being used to traffic minors in prostitution.
Sex Traffickers in Colombia Use Facebook, Tinder and Airbnb to Exploit Minors - Bloomberg
Colombia is heavily affected by the misuse of the app. According to the ESCNNA Observatory, an organization working to protect minors, in 2023 there were more than 2,500 victims of crimes related to the commercial sexual exploitation of girls, boys and adolescents in Colombia, and 12 foreigners were arrested on suspicion of child exploitation.
In Colombia, where the influx of foreigners has increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, gangs are facilitating underage prostitution in addition to traditional businesses such as cocaine trafficking.
In this trade, girls are targeted across all social networks.
One example is Facebook. A network has been built on Facebook that connects local girls with foreign men, and adults who participate in the network find girls or trick them into introducing them to other girls to find targets. Facebook has a 'You May Know' feature that makes it easy to pry into users' social relationships, so it has been pointed out that girls are more likely to be targeted.
Additionally, messaging apps such as Meta's Messenger and WhatsApp are encrypted, which is why criminals tend to use them.
According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram are widely used in Colombia and Latin America, with Facebook in particular thought to be used by more than half of the population. Meta has been working hard to strictly restrict connections between minors and adults, and in 2024 removed more than 50 million pieces of child exploitation content from Facebook and Instagram, but it cannot be said that minors are being protected perfectly.
Colombia is also one of the fastest growing markets for Airbnb and Tinder, where underage girls are targeted and lured into prostitution in Airbnb-secured apartments.
Experts say that conversations that start on Tinder can then move to WhatsApp, where explicit photos are exchanged. These apps don't do thorough background checks, and their use of encrypted chats to improve security has come under fire for allowing them to prey on underage girls.
According to a 2023 UNICEF report, 52.3% of Colombian children experience financial poverty, and Bloomberg noted that 'the offer of sex in exchange for money could be attractive to Colombian children.'
The victims of prostitution are not only girls but also adults. In Colombia, there are cases where girls who are recruited by gangs commit crimes other than prostitution. For example, they call adults under the pretense of prostitution and extort money from them.
According to the US Embassy in Colombia, there has been an increase in cases where perpetrators lure victims (usually foreigners) through dating apps, rob them of their belongings by force, sometimes using sedatives, and in the worst cases, kill them. According to information released in January 2024, the number of US citizens killed in the Colombian city of Medellin reached eight in about two months.
Airbnb has removed more than 150 Medellín establishments from its platform for violating its anti-sex work policies. According to Medellín security authorities, Colombia has begun deporting foreigners accused of sexual exploitation of minors and has suspended 77 establishments, including hotels, hostels and rentals, for 2024 after reports of illegal activities involving the exploitation of minors.
'Behind sexual exploitation is business. All social networks are used. Gangs no longer have to focus solely on selling drugs, they have realised that they can also sell weapons and people,' said Manuel Villa Mejía, Medellín's Secretary of Security, calling for each platform to assume social responsibility.
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