On Friday a report claims that Apple once threatened to remove Facebook from the App Store in 2019. The cause was human trafficking. (Original, paywalled report here).
The BBC published a sweeping undercover investigation of the practice, prompting Apple to threaten to remove Facebook from its store, the paper said.
An internal memo found that Facebook was aware of the practice even before then: A Facebook researcher wrote in a report dated 2019, “was this issue known to Facebook before BBC inquiry and Apple escalation?,” per the Journal.
Do the right thing, Apple: Remove Facebook.
Check It Out: Apple Once Threatened to Remove Facebook From App Store Over Human Trafficking
If that’s your position, then shall I assume that you’re ok with Apple scanning your photos looking for FBI signatures for child porn?
Andrew:
This is part of much larger problem of human trafficking and slavery that continue to today. The BBC article mentions two specific apps, 4Sale and Haraj, both of which are still on the App Store and Google Play. The owners of these apps say that they have removed those hashtags associated with the sale of these domestic workers (nearly all women/under-aged girls). However, even today, using everyday apps like Instagram, one can still find, buy, trade and sell women and girls. In the Middle East, most of these will be from Sub-Saharan Africa or Southern-Eastern Asia, less often, Eastern Europe.
The slavery, however, also extends to men and boys. These networks are well established, and continue to provide a lucrative trade in human beings.
Removing the apps, while removing a venue, will have no impact on the trade.
“Do the right thing, Apple: Remove Facebook.”
Apple, or some other company, should come out with an alternative to Facebook and run it in ethical manner.