Apple threatened to remove Facebook's app from the App Store after a BBC report revealed that traffickers were using the popular social media platform to arrange human trafficking operations. The Wall Street Journal reported that traffickers from the Middle East were using Facebook to post job advertisements that were actually fronts for human trafficking.
Following the BBC investigation, Apple threatened to remove the Facebook app from its store. The newspaper added that Facebook was aware of the problem even before the BBC report. Internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal showed that employees at Facebook raised alarms about the misuse of the platform in developing countries, but the company's response was insufficient and sometimes non-existent.
According to the documents, employees discovered that human traffickers in the Middle East were using the site to lure women into abusive work conditions, where they were treated like "slaves" or forced into sexual acts. Facebook had previously announced reform plans aimed at ensuring the platform was a "healthier" space, promoting discussions and the exchange of ideas on various political, social, and economic issues, but the algorithms implemented led to counterproductive results, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Facebook uncovered a prostitution ring that used the site to recruit women from Thailand and other countries. An internal investigation report indicated that the ring held the women captive, deprived them of food, and forced them into sexual acts in massage parlors in Dubai.
In another incident, a Kenyan teacher from Nairobi named Patricia Wanga Kimani saw a job advertisement on Facebook promising free travel tickets and visas, despite the company banning ads promoting free travel and visa expenses. Kimani explained that "most of the posts referred to the need for cleaning workers in Saudi Arabia" and mentioned that she was promised $300 per month to work in cleaning services in Riyadh, but she did not receive the agreed-upon wage.
