Traffickers still using online ads
PEOPLE-SMUGGLING gangs have still been using sites such as Tiktok to advertise ways of illegally entering the UK, four months after social media companies vowed to stop this.
A Sunday Express investigation found several posts on Tiktok offering places in speed boats and dinghies or in the back of lorries to cross the Channel for as little as £3,000 per person.
The posts add extra incentive for wouldbe migrants by using pictures of famous landmarks in Britain, including Big Ben and the London Eye.
Last night, after we alerted Tiktok, it permanently banned the accounts.
A Tiktok spokesman said: “Nothing is more important than the safety of our community and this content has no place on Tiktok.”
It comes as the row continues over Government plans to send illegal migrants to Rwanda while their asylum applications are processed.
Last year the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced it had entered into a Home Office-backed agreement with Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube to combat the people smugglers.
Around 28,300 migrants made perilous journeys across the Channel in small boats last year, with more than 6,700 migrants having arrived by boat so far this year.
The agreement would “see greater collaboration against crime groups using the internet to recruit, communicate and advertise a range of services to migrants,” the NCA vowed in December.
‘More needs to be done to monitor and remove these posts’
An NCA spokesman said at the time: “Social media companies will build on the support and information provided by the NCA to identify and quickly remove content that violates platforms’ terms of service or guidelines.”
Chris Farrimond, NCA director of threat leadership, added: “This plan is an important first step towards our aim of preventing organised crime groups from using platforms in this way.”
Our probe this month found 14 posts advertising services from people smugglers on Tiktok in just a few minutes, including some that had been online for weeks.
Posts on Tiktok, translated from Albanian, offered illegal boat trips for as little as £3,000 per person, and included videos of groups of men crammed into boats. Others offered “guaranteed” entry on speed boats.
One, posted on April 6, said: “Journey to the UK on a boat for £3,000. Maximum security. Only serious people.”
Another posted on March 18, with a video of a group of men in a boat, said: “Boys managed to get to the UK today. 100 percent surety. Payments on arrival in the UK. Price £6,000.”
On April 10, a post boasted: “Journey to England on lorry 100 percent secure. From Germany to England £12,000.”
Three days later, another for the same price said: “To all who want to meet the Queen of England. Get in touch DM.”
On April 12, a video showing the French coastguard throwing bottles of mineral water to migrants in a boat was uploaded, with the false claim it was British police coming to their rescue and the boast of a secure journey.
An undercover reporter, posing as someone who wanted to get to the UK illegally,
responded to some of the posts. One replied that they would have to get to Calais and it would be £28,000 for two people in a boat.
Another responded it would cost £22,000 per person for two in a lorry with the driver from Calais to London with “100 percent success”.
MPS are now calling for tougher action against social media companies that are failing to identify and remove such posts.
Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover and Deal, who has raised the Channel migrants issue since she was elected in 2019, said: “Time and again we’ve seen social media and websites being used to facilitate people smuggling and dangerous crossings.
“More needs to be done to monitor and remove these blatant adverts both by
social media giants and those authorities responsible for bringing an end to the small boat crossings.”
And John Hayes, MP for South Holland and The Deepings, said: “People smuggling, in which vulnerable individuals are told that if they pay enough money they can enter the UK by illegal means, deserve to face the full weight of the law.
“As do people who allow them to market their trade, so organisations like Tiktok should do what they promised and take them down or be prosecuted.”
An NCA spokesman said that since the agreement, 600 posts, pages or accounts have been removed from platforms.
“We are working closely with social media companies to prevent their platforms being exploited and we have
ongoing positive engagement with them. However, we are clear more needs to be done and this work is ongoing.”
A Tiktok spokesman said: “We have permanently banned these accounts for violating our community guidelines, which prohibit any content that depicts, promotes or enables illegal activities, including people smuggling.
“We engage with UK law enforcement and work closely with industry partners to identify and remove this kind of content.
“This includes our participation in the joint action plan with the National Crime Agency, and supported by the Home Office, to help combat organised immigration crime online.”
The Home Office was contacted for comment.