We have just published a paper in which we analyse the attention that different types of human trafficking receive on Twitter. The article is entitled: Twitter and human trafficking: Purposes, actors and topics in the Spanish-speaking scene. Below is the abstract:
Human trafficking is a phenomenon linked to different purposes of exploitation, such as sexual, labour, marriage, begging, the commission of crimes or the removal of organs. There are numerous debates that refer to a possible overrepresentation of some of these purposes, such as sexual exploitation, in the discourses present in international regulations, written press or institutional campaigns. This may have possible consequences for the detection of part of the population affected by this phenomenon and the care provided to them. The aim of this paper is to analyse the temporal evolution of the purposes of exploitation, actors and themes most represented in the activity on human trafficking and exploitation that took place on Twitter during the period 2011-2020. The results show that sexual exploitation is the one with the greatest presence in the activity on this social network, as well as that international organisations and the criminal prosecution of the crime of trafficking become progressively more relevant. In addition, the networks of topic communities analysed suggest that sexual exploitation seems to be linked to the idea of prostitution in the tweets posted. All of this may have consequences for the displacement of other purposes of exploitation or approaches such as those focused on the promotion of human rights to less relevant positions, as well as for the construction of certain images of victims of this phenomenon.
How to reference this article:
Sierra-Rodríguez, A., Arroyo-Machado, W., & Barroso-Hurtado, D. (2022). Twitter and human trafficking: Purposes, actors and topics in the Spanish-speaking scene. Comunicar, 71. https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-06