Combatting Child Trafficking Misinformation

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Combatting Child Trafficking Misinformation

Mary Dobrian Human Rights Articles 28 September 2020

by Anne Manos, AAWE Paris

Since July, the hashtag #SavetheChildren, created by the UK-based charity Save the Children to fund a campaign combatting child trafficking worldwide, has flooded social media. Interactions with the hashtag have multiplied by five, posts and statistics concerning child trafficking went viral, and rallies were held demonstrating support for the cause.

QAnon better The sudden outburst of concern for saving children from the horrors of trafficking was triggered by the use of the hashtag by followers of QAnon, a booming conspiracy theory claiming that an international bureaucracy led by Democrats and celebrities kidnaps, molests and even eats children. The conspiracy theory emerged in 2016 on the 4chan platform, whereby an anonymous individual or group of individuals named “Q” released supposedly classified information on social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Without providing concrete evidence for these claims, QAnon has gained a significant number of followers, the endorsement of congressional candidates and compliments from President Trump.

Focusing on exposing a secret ring of child trafficking has meant that the conspiracy theory was able to “piggyback” on an already-existing anti-trafficking campaign, and cause detriment to it. QAnon’s representation of child trafficking is not realistic. Children are not being kidnapped by Pope Francis or Hillary Clinton and eaten to find a life-prolonging chemical. Trafficking is perhaps more terrifying because it is more subtle, and actually happening in local communities.

“The truth is that the ‘villains’ of sex trafficking are less likely to be members of a secretive network involved in a bizarre or convoluted scheme than they are to be some of your neighbors,” explains the Polaris Project blog post.

As the Jeffrey Epstein case shows, whereby a powerful financier recruited and sexually exploited underage girls, children may be trafficked but sleep at home every night. They may also be led to believe the choices they are making are voluntary (in fact, the perpetrators often coerce victims by exploiting their vulnerabilities, such as by providing financial incentives to desperate individuals). Child trafficking is not about being picked up from the street and thrown into the back of a van, but about a whole system which allows it to happen. It is a lot less violent than how it is being portrayed, and a lot harder to catch.

The interpretation of child trafficking statistics and of the temporary restriction of the hashtag #SaveTheChildren by Facebook have also been misleading. Viral posts claiming that 800,000 children go missing in the United States every year exaggerated the figures, which were closer to the 400,000 mark. They also failed to acknowledge that in 2020 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recorded 91 percent of abductions as “runaways” (or children missing because of family conflict, who are mostly eventually reunited), and less than 1 percent involved an unknown abductor. Further, Facebook temporarily banning the hashtag was not part of a conspiracy by the media to “cover up” the extent of child trafficking, but was instead linked to the fact that the hashtag was being used to promote misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. And while trafficking does happen in the United States, much more of it takes place in less prosperous parts of the world such as Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. Because poverty and conflict are more prominent in those areas, a larger pool of young people are receptive to the misleading promise of having their personal circumstances improved.

The surge in the discussion about child trafficking has arguably been beneficial to the cause by increasing awareness and the number of donations to charities such as Save The Children. So why worry about a few false rumours? Choosing funds at the expense of the truth is a dangerous sacrifice to make. QAnon’s hijacking of the hashtag has been detrimental for legitimate anti-trafficking groups, who have had to spend time and resources correcting misinformation and answering clogged hotlines. This can be a serious issue for victims trying to find immediate help, as they might not be able to reach someone on time. This is especially concerning seeing as some victims might only have the possibility or the willpower to speak up at the precise moment they make the phone call. Baseless accusations also have the potential to cause undeserved harm to individuals or companies. The famous “Pizzagate” incident in 2016, based on a theory that the pizzeria Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC was the center of a child sex ring linked to Hillary Clinton, led to a man opening fire in the restaurant.

Spreading the correct information and keeping the subject bipartisan is crucial for an issue as serious as child trafficking. There are many resources we can turn to to verify what we are reading is accurate. Websites such as truthorfiction.com or firstdraftnews.org are helpful tools which allow readers to identify misinformation on almost any topic. Visiting the websites of the actual non-profit organizations, such as Save the Children or the Polaris Project, can also be useful. Importantly, although Facebook and Twitter have the power to flag up or take down misinformation or information that violates their content policies, it does not mean that what is left unmarked is necessarily true. In the end, understanding how to distinguish real information from planted disinformation about sex trafficking can stop well-meaning people from causing unintentional harm.