PHOTO: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Photo Courtesy of the Attorney General’s Office
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week announced a new partnership with social media behemoth Facebook to use innovative data and analytical methods to crack down on human trafficking.
The partnership will leverage technology to identify victims of sex trafficking in online advertisements for commercial sex, and pursue the traffickers that engage in this practice of what Schneiderman characterized as “modern day slavery.” The initiative will focus, in particular, on identifying child victims of sex trafficking, including those who are reported as missing.
“This is an exciting and important new partnership that will greatly assist our efforts to bring sex traffickers to justice and return their victims to safety,” Schneiderman said as he unveiled the joint effort last Thursday during his keynote address at New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s National Summit on Human Trafficking and the State Courts in Downtown Manhattan. “Working with Facebook, we will open a new front in the fight to make online sex trafficking a thing of the past. Facebook has been a great partner in my office’s work to protect children in the past, and I am very pleased to be working with them again on this critical new effort.”
As part of the initiative, the attorney general’s office will work with Facebook to develop algorithms that will identify evidence of trafficking in online advertisements, including pattern analysis of ad language, phone numbers, images, and other data, as well as identification of missing children who appear in advertisements for commercial sex. When advertisements including potential victims of trafficking are identified, the attorney general, in conjunction with other law enforcement partners and victim’s support groups, will take immediate action, Schneiderman noted.
This isn’t the first time that Schneiderman and Facebook have collaborated. Earlier this year, the attorney general’s office joined the networking site in announcing a new system to help find missing children by sending AMBER Alerts to the News Feeds of Facebook users who are in the targeted search area for a missing child.
In 2014, he partnered with Facebook and Instagram to develop new policies to curb the sale of illegal firearms online. Facebook agreed to remove reported user posts that seek to circumvent state gun laws, take action to prevent minors from viewing posts that aim to sell firearms, and provide product education to better inform law-abiding private gun sellers.
By Forum Staff
