How Facebook and Google are promoting sinister apps which fuel the online slave trade in the Persian Gulf – The Sun

A STARTLING expose reveals domestic workers are being bought and sold online in a sinister black market economy.

They are then routinely deprived of basic human rights in a modern day slave trade using the platforms of the world's biggest tech firms.

The undercover probe, by BBC News Arabic, reveals some of the illegal deals have been carried out on Facebook-owned Instagram – where posts have been promoted via boosted hashtags.

Other listings have been promoted in sinister apps provided by Google Play and Apple's App Store.

"What they are doing is promoting an online slave market," said Urmila Bhoola, the United Nations' special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.

"If Google, Apple, Facebook or any other companies are hosting apps like these, they have to be held accountable."

After being alerted to shocking the issue by the BBC, Facebook revealed it had now banned one of the hashtags involved.

Google and Apple said they were both now working with developers to prevent any future illegal activity.

Undercover reporters posed as a couple who had just arrived in Kuwait to expose the full scale of the problem.

They spoke to dozens of app users and visited those looking to sell their domestic workers on an app called 4Sale – where workers are filtered by race and price.

One listing stated: "Nepalese who dares to ask for a day off."

Sellers bragged of how they often confiscated the workers passports, confined them to the house and denied them access to a phone, reports the BBC.

One policeman said of his worker: "Trust me she's very nice, she laughs and has a smiley face. Even if you keep her up till 5am she won't complain."

Since the BBC team contacted the apps and tech companies about their findings, 4Sale has removed the domestic worker section of its platform.

Facebook said it had banned the Arabic hashtag which translates as "#maidsfortransfer".

"We will continue to work with law enforcement, expert organisations and industry to prevent this behaviour on our platforms," added a spokesman.

Google said it was "deeply troubled by the allegations" adding "we have asked the BBC to share additional details so we can conduct a more in-depth investigation."

Apple said it "strictly prohibited" the promotion of human trafficking and child exploitation in apps made available on its marketplace.

"App developers are responsible for policing the user-generated content on their platforms," it said.

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