‘Criminals Hide in Plain Sight’: Facebook, Meta Pay Used for Child Sex Trafficking
By Movieguide® Contributor
A new investigation finds Facebook Messenger and Meta Pay are being used to buy and sell child sexual abuse material.
The Guardian reported on Jennifer Louise Whelan, who was arrested in 2022 after being charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking and indecent assault. Whelan was allegedly selling pictures and videos of three young children in her care via Facebook Messenger and receiving payment through Meta Pay. Meta Pay is a platform where users can directly send and receive money from other users.
A report also found that Meta did not flag Whelan’s actions, which is unsurprising. Former Meta content moderators claim they saw suspicious transactions taking place on the payment platform but were “unable to communicate with Meta Pay compliance teams to flag these payments.”
“We’ve heard from moderators at Meta they can see illegal conduct is occurring and that there are concurrent transactions through Meta Pay, but they have no way of communicating what they are seeing internally to moderators at Meta Pay,” said Gretchen Peters, the executive director of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online.
Meta Pay isn’t the only money-transfer app that is suspected of being used for illegal activity. The Hindenburg Research firm conducted a study of Cash App and found that it was “by far…the top app used in reported U.S. sex trafficking.”
Part of the reason these suspicious payments are going under the radar is because the amount of money being transferred is too small for Meta to register.
“When it comes to child exploitation and CSAM, it’s really all about small amounts,” said Silvija Krupena, director of the financial intelligence unit at RedCompass Labs, a London-based financial consultancy. “It’s a global crime and criminals, with different types of offenders. In low-income countries like the Philippines, $20 is big money. The production usually happens in those countries. These are small amounts that can fall through the cracks when it comes to traditional money-laundering controls.”
A spokesperson for Meta stated, “Child sexual exploitation is a horrific crime. We support law enforcement in its efforts to prosecute these criminals and invest in the best tools and expert teams to detect and respond to suspicious activity. Meta reports all apparent child sexual exploitation to NCMEC [the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children], including cases involving payment transactions.”
These crimes are about to be even harder to detect. In December, Meta announced plans for end-to-end encryption for its messaging platform, which would make messages readable only to the people sending and receiving them.
The NCMEC called this a “devastating blow” in the fight against child sex trafficking, as Meta would no longer be able to use their content moderation system to review and flag suspicious materials.
“When Meta Pay is linked to Messenger or Instagram, the messages associated with payments could uncover illicit behaviors,” said Krupena. “Now that this context is removed, the implications are significant. It almost feels like encryption is inadvertently facilitating illicit activity. This opens many opportunities for criminals to hide in plain sight.”
Meta responded, saying the encryption technology “does not mean [they] will sacrifice safety.”
“We have developed over 30 safety tools, all of which work in encrypted messaging,” the spokesperson continued. “We’ve now made our reporting tools easier to find, reduced the number of steps to report and started encouraging teens to report at relevant moments.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Facebook and Meta’s role in sex trafficking crimes:
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Facebook can be held liable for predators who use the platform to prey on children.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Facebook could face charges after three Texas-based cases reportedly involved teenage sex traffic victims.
Fox Business reported:
The victims were reportedly preyed on through the social media platform’s messaging system – prompting prosecutors to claim the site was negligent in not better blocking sex trafficking opportunities.
The state court noted that Facebook was not a “lawless no-man’s-land” and that the company could be liable if sex traffickers preyed on children through their platform.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
