Kishek and Knight

 How Social Media Combats Slavery  

by

Dana Kishek and Keshia Knight

It is easy to think that slavery does not exist in the United States- the practice of enslaving people for profit is something reserved for history books and third-world countries. However, what if you were told that slavery occurs all over the world including your own backyard? 

Modern-day slavery, also known as human trafficking Links to an external site. (or trafficking in persons), happens everywhere. It can happen to the people you know, to those you do not, and is a threat to every human being on this planet. No person or place is immune to human trafficking.

Within the Bay Area, human trafficking continues to secretly rise. Reported cases of forced labor Links to an external site., indentured servitude, and sex trafficking Links to an external site. pop up all over the region. Traffickers are finding new way to force people into slavery, both in the off- and online worlds.

Today, they use digital technologies such as mobile phones, social networking sites, and the Internet. These are used to lure and control victims, exchange and launder money, and connect with other traffickers and buyers. (Harris, 2012).

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are hunting grounds for traffickers to recruit, seduce, or threaten women into forced prostitution. Fink and Segall (2013) called pimps (traffickers) skillful social engineers, relaying many stories about girls who found themselves caught up in trafficking rings after befriending strangers on social media sites.

Technology has a big impact on increasing human trafficking, but it also has an almost as powerful effect on combating it. The same technologies aide people and organizations focused on combating human trafficking in voicing their mission on a larger scale. 

 The Economist (2013) suggests that the internet is an exercise in interconnection where connections between interest groups that make up an online movement are getting stronger. The internet is key in anti-trafficking because of the interconnection that is created between users. It allows information to be disseminated to larger groups, essentially strengthening the offline power of the cause. 

 People become part of online communities, spreading awareness, connecting to likeminded individuals, and helping each other and victims of human trafficking.These technologies combine together to create forms of Internet Activism Links to an external site., which enable faster communication by citizen movements and the delivery of local information to a large audience.

Anti-human trafficking organizers use Internet activism, specifically social media, to establish interconnected communities to raise awareness. Sites like Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in spreading anti-trafficking messages and efforts that are not readily available by traditional communication efforts. Essentially, social media can provide access to a large number of contacts, thereby enabling social movements to reach critical mass (Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012).

In the Bay Area, organizations like Not For Sale Links to an external site. (NFS) and the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition Links to an external site. (BAATC) use social media as a large part of its activism. Both Twitter and Facebook have proven to be positive outlets for these organizations. Not for Sale currently has 49,000 followers on Twitter Links to an external site. and more than 61,000 likes on Facebook Links to an external site.; BAATC has slightly less numbers than most anti-human trafficking organizations, but nonetheless uses social media as part of its overall strategy to extend awareness for other organizations.

Brian Wo, Director of Partnerships for BAATC, says that social media basically helps spread the word more (personal communication, 2014). Using social media as a speaking platform enables organizations that do not necessarily have the work force to hit the street and engage the larger community.

The access to a large number of contacts- so they can attend events, get involved, volunteer, petition, and help victims- is a positive benefit of social media. Anti-human trafficking organizations create a dialogue with the community which in return spurs further conversation on and offline.

A 2013 Pew Research study looked the relationship between political action and social media, and although it primarily focused on political issues (i.e. politics and voting), a great deal centered on how users spread messages via social media and the outcomes of participation.  According to the report which surveyed American adults who use social networking sites, 28 percent have shared political or social (social cause/change) news on their social networks for friends and family to read. People also use social media as a platform and sharing device: 60 percent of users have expressed a political or social belief via online channels, and 43 percent of social networking users decide to learn more about a social issue because of something they saw on social media. Additionally,18 percent of users took action on a political or social issue because of something they read on a SNS, and 83 percent of users got involved in a political or social issue offline in 2012.

The role of social media in combating human trafficking is contingent to sharing of information and ideas. According to Meikle and Young (2012), “All digital media texts, including news, can be copied and shared by anyone. News is no longer simply distributed by media companies to audiences – it is now increasingly distributed by those audiences, as links, stories, videos and images which are meaningful to particular individuals are recirculate through convergent networks" (pg. 53)

Sharing is key when raising awareness as organizations indirectly depend on followers to get the word out by using different sharing methods available through social media. The more shares a link, picture, video gets the more people will see it, find out about human trafficking, and understand ways to help.

“Social media is like setting the word of mouth method on fire, if that makes sense,” said Joan McCormmick, assistant partnerships director of Crossing the Jordan, a women’s help center in Sonoma Country. “It allows for you to reach so many people, with limited time and space. Because we are such a small organization, social media helps us to spread the word around Sonoma County without having to tirelessly pound the pavement. Not that we wouldn’t do that and don’t, but using social media enables or messages to retweeted and shared by a greater number of people. People can find out more about the issue and our organization faster this way than just by us telling them so.”

While social media is one of the most important aspects of internet activism and combating human trafficking in the technological age, not every organization knows how to use it. Wo noted how important it is for anti-human trafficking organizations to understand how to effectively use this type new media so organizations can feed of each other’s social media dialogue or conversation (personal communication, 2014).

Lawrence (2010) lists three main lessons for activists to make the most out of their social media efforts: integration, listening and engaging, and turning online action into offline action. While not directly affiliated with Lawrence’s concepts, anti-trafficking organizations seem to follow these lessons extensively in order to garner the most effective social media strategy.

The idea of Integration include using coordinated tactics across the major platforms and engaging social media users where they already spend their time: online. Wo listed Twitter and Facebook as BAATC’s major platforms, using hashtags to track conversations and engage in those already in progress. Their tactics

across both platforms vary. They use Facebook to engage people they come in contact with locally, as in people they have met at other organizations, events, and engagements; and use Twitter to drum up conversation on the topic with people everywhere around the country and the globe.

We can see this happen with other anti-trafficking organizations. For instance H.E.A.T Watch, or Stop Human Exploitation and Trafficking, uses two different strategies for its Twitter page Links to an external site. and Facebook Links to an external site.. On Twitter, H.E.A.T Watch primarily advocates different events and strategies; whereas on Facebook the organization posts several pictures as a recognition for community members and an enticement for future help. Not to say that H.E.A.T Watch’s Twitter does not include pictures, but its posts do not solely center on this type of media as much as the Facebook page is.

The Listening and engaging lesson focuses not on advertising or message pushing, rather it is about connecting with people and building sustained credibility. For anti-trafficking campaigns, it is extremely vital to use social media sites as not just an agenda-pushing outlet but as a platform to engage and create dialogue.

Several organizations actively listen and engage followers, employing methods like retweets, shares, comments, likes, and spokespeople as ways to reach out to supporters. Organizations like Don’t Sell Bodies Links to an external site. and the Polaris Project Links to an external site. use their Facebook and Twitter sites to connect with users in on a variety of levels.

Don’t Sell bodies recently held a Twitter conference for users to discuss how the organization and its followers viewed human trafficking and how technology harms or hurts the issue. The organization used the hashtag #DSBChat to track user participation and engage others to join the conversation.

The Polaris Project routinely asks followers questions about the issue, to participate in photo challenges, and engage users to comment on their views of human trafficking. In April 2014, the Polaris Project participated in the #aworldforgirls movement, posting picture of staff and asking followers “I want #aworldwhere girls ____.” The post spawned 99 likes, 33 shares, and 25 comments with several answers such as “I want #aworldwhere girls are safe.”

Another way that organizations have created credibility and connected with users is through various sub-organizations. For instance, Not For Sale garners a lot of attention in the Bay Area thanks to the efforts of its celebrity supporters and subsequent Twitter use. In 2011, San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt teamed up with the organization to create Team Not For Sale Links to an external site., a sub-organization of professional athletes who have joined the cause.

Team NFS members are vocal about the organization, including Affeldt who often posts to Twitter about organization efforts and his speaking engagements. Additionally, Not For Sale’s Twitter page often posts about team athletes which spurs numerous reposts and retweets. During Major League Baseball’s 2014 opening week, NFS posted three tweets about Team NFS and its athletes generating 29 retweets and 28 favorites. In these instances, Not For Sale has reached outside of its organization to include an interest many Americans share with an important issue: baseball and human trafficking.

These examples show how anti-trafficking organizations are listening and engaging followers, providing different ways to get involved. More so, it helps establish a rapport with followers to build a level of credibility that can eventually extend into the offline world.

Lawrence’s final lesson is concerned with how activists turn online participation into offline actions. He says that in order for the social cause to have any real relevance it must have a concrete offline effect. Organizations must use aggressive online tactics that urges the community to take action.

While buying products from anti-trafficking companies might seem like a minuscule action, many organizations reach out via social networking sites to buy products like shirts to support the cause offline and urge users not to use products created by forced labor. In April 2014, Stop the Traffik asked followers on Twitter and Facebook to boycott Mondelez International, the world’s largest confectionery company. One day into the online protest, 9,000 people had signed Stop the Traffik’s petition and on April 17, 2014 Mondelez International agreed to meet with the organization to discuss the issue of forced labor and its chocolate production.

Another way that organizations use social media to encourage offline participation is by posting about speaking engagements and events that users/followers can attend. The week of April 13, BAATC posted several times on Facebook about its speaking engagements, Crossing the Jordan’s Not Forgotten Ball, the Freedom House Gala, and Run for Courage. It uses its online platform to spread the word about offline activities that supporters can take part in- this helps those who would not know about the events otherwise. Other organizations do this as well:

“We have begun to use both Facebook and Twitter to announce events that our organization is participating and interested in, slowly but surely,” McCormmick said. “We have gotten great response for our events like the Not Forgotten Ball- better exposure than what we could do by word of mouth alone. We are not only spreading the word faster, but getting people involved easier. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook allow people to be a part of something they might not have known about before or didn’t have time for. Now they can participate online, and are more than likely to be moved to participate in the offline world as well. That is the ultimately goal. Entice them enough online to get them to help in the real world. Once they see how easy it is to press the ‘like’ button, they’ll see that it is easy to shop at our thrift store, sign a petition, or spend the evening dancing at the ball for trafficking victims.”

The combination of offline and online participation strengthens the effectiveness of the movement as a whole, and several anti-trafficking organizations use both methods simultaneously. But there are people that doubt the effectiveness of social media and internet activism.

Gladwell’s (2010) critique of today’s methods of activism centers on the fact that platforms of social media are built around weak ties and only fosters surface-level, low-commitment actions.

But Granovetter (Coopman, 2014) says that there is strength in weak ties because they provide more novel information because they connect you outside of your normal social circle." Twitter and Facebook, as weak tie networks, connect these anti-trafficking organizations with networks of people that they don’t previously know. Additionally, followers are connected to a relatively unknown organization and fellow supporters. Even though that connection begins as a weak tie, it eventually fosters a strong tie because there is a mutual bond/interest.

Social networks as weak ties also allow for the dissemination of information over a broad network: connecting not only the organization to its followers, but also to other organizations that might have been previously unknown. Those ties in turn foster a new connection that can strengthen a movement and promote offline participation as well.

It is easy to think that human trafficking does not exist in this day and age, but more and more organizations around the world are showing people just how bad the problem has become. Social media may not be the end all solution to raising awareness, but it is proving to be a vital tactic in the fight to end slavery. Organizations use social media to recruit volunteers, gain supporters, disseminate information, and spread awareness for the issue. The organizations have created networks of supporters, enabling them to help victims faster and lobby for improved legislation. Together, social media and anti-trafficking is aiming to combat human trafficking and world-wide slavery one tweet, post, share, like, and link at a time.

 ** Joan McCormick, though willing to speak, would not allow for her interview to be videoed or recorded, but would allow quotes to be used. This is to protect the organization, which supplies safe houses for trafficking victims in Sonoma County. 

References

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