Men Are Using Facebook, Tinder And Airbnb For Sex Trafficking In Colombia, Investigation Finds

Facebook, Tinder and Airbnb Apps are being used to lure women into sex trafficking in Colombia. In an investigation carried out by Bloomberg, several girls shared that they were victims of sexual exploitation. Platforms like Facebook, Tinder and Airbnb allowed predators to lure victims into sex work and plan dates and accommodations with tourists overseas.

“With the growing availability of good internet service, the technology to enable this type of crime is on the rise,” Pablo César Villeda Ortiz, former regional president for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Justice Mission, a non-governmental organization that combats human trafficking and violence against women and children told Bloomberg.

How are tech giants contributing to Sex Trafficking in Colombia?

Men looking to sleep with women in Colombia use Facebook community groups and WhatsApp groups to meet or prey on young girls. Tinder is another source for men looking to find young women once they enter the country. However, gangs also exploit women to carry out their crimes.

Jorge Wilson Vélez, a private investigator in Colombia, told Bloomberg that some men collect pictures of minors and create their profiles on Tinder. The men will then get the young women to go on dates, controlling their interactions behind the scenes, such as telling the girls what to say or do during the date.

These conversations started on Tinder, often migrate to WhatsApp where suggestive photos are exchanged. In circumstances where physical encounters take place, minors are told to take pictures which can be used for extortion in the future, according to Velez.

It’s difficult for law enforcement to find victims and criminals due to the shortage of background checks and privacy features like encrypted chats on WhatsApp. Meta introduced encryption on Facebook direct messages in 2023, a feature also being rolled out on Instagram messages.

Last March, Timothy Alan Livingston, a 37-year-old Ohio man renting an Airbnb in the Gotham Hotel in El Poblado was found with a 12- and 13-year-old on the premises. He fled the country after a short detention.

What have Tech giants said?

Airbnb, which does not allow sex work in its accommodations, started suspending hosts with listings that included he term “guest-friendly,” stating it violated one of their policies, according to an email sent to a host last July viewed by Bloomberg News.

Airbnb is also partnered with Medellín Mayor Gutiérrez to find solutions to combat sexual exploitation, like training local police on using its incident reporting portal and demanding tourists to Colombia to recognise its no prostitution policy.

Child exploitation—whether online or offline—is a horrific crime, and we support law enforcement in Colombia and around the world to prosecute the criminals behind it,” a spokesperson for Meta said.

Match shared that the company wants to support the global end of human trafficking. It is training law enforcement authorities to ask for data from Airbnb to assist their investigations, and investing in nonprofit-led educational resources for local hosts.

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