Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled a voluntary partnership between social media companies and the UK government to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online, such as criminals sharing information about illegal English Channel crossings. In an announcement over the weekend, Sunak said the move would help meet his “stop the boats” target of clamping down on illegal migrants being charged large sums by human traffickers to make dangerous crossings across the high seas. The online content being targeted by the new partnership would cover discount offers for groups of people, free spaces for children, offers of false documents and false claims of safe passage – all of which the government says target vulnerable people for profit and put people’s lives at risk through dangerous and illegal journeys. “To stop the boats, we have to tackle the business model of vile people smugglers at source,” said Sunak in a statement released by 10 Downing Street.
“That means clamping down on their attempts to lure people into making these illegal crossings and profit from putting lives at risk. This new commitment from tech firms will see us redouble our efforts to fight back against these criminals, working together to shut down their vile trade,” he said.
Figures from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) claim that over 90 per cent of online content linked to people smuggling is taken down when social media companies are notified. The new partnership between tech firms and the UK government is aimed at driving forward efforts to further crackdown on the tactics being used by criminal gangs who abuse the internet to lure people into paying for crossings.
“Heartless people smugglers are using social media to promote their despicable services and charge people thousands of pounds to make the illegal journey into the UK in unsafe boats. They must not succeed,” said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
