Abstract
This chapter explores the role of the Internet and digital technologies in the processes of human smuggling and human trafficking in Italy. Specifically, the study analyses how the surface web and social media (Facebook, Instagram) facilitate the stages of recruitment and transportation in the smuggling of migrants travelling from third countries or other European countries to Italy. Consistently, the use of the same ICT tools, including the dark web, is analysed for human trafficking for the three main stages of the process: recruitment, transportation and exploitation. Findings at the national level suggest the need to continue investigating the online environment, since it represents a key facilitator for smugglers and traffickers.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Although the link of the web contents to illegal migration was evident in most cases, specific elements revealed to be particularly significant: (1) Specific images such as European flag, visa; (2) The word “visa Schengen” in the name or title of the page/profile/post; (3) Offer of documents to purchase; (4) Offer of travels to Europe; (5) Explicit contents related to specific routes or destinations; (6) Request from advertisers to be contacted through the social network or mobile applications.
- 3.
A Burner phone app provides a temporary phone number to be utilised when calling or massaging instead of the actual phone numbers of users.
- 4.
The most famous example is the online web community ‘Craigslist’ in the dark web. With millions of users with the possibility to buy different legitimate commercial products, a specific ‘Erotic’ section (hidden to the majority of users) was exploited by traffickers to post and advertise children and women for sale. In 2010 this web community removed its adult services section placing the link ‘censored’ (IOM 2007; Thakor and Boyd 2013).
- 5.
The exploration of the web revealed that travel offers (potentially related to human trafficking) were in all cases linked to job opportunities. For this reason, the transportation stage of human trafficking has been included within the recruitment stage.
- 6.
The translations of the Italian words are respectively: beautiful, young, Chinese, horny, passion.
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Antonopoulos, G.A. et al. (2020). The Role of the Internet and Digital Technologies in Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Italy. In: Technology in Human Smuggling and Trafficking. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42768-9_2
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