II.5.Human Exploitation

Policy Rationale

We are consolidating several existing exploitation policies that were previously housed in different sections of the Community Standards into one dedicated section that focuses on human exploitation and captures a broad range of harmful activities that may manifest on our platform. Experts think and talk about these issues under one umbrella — human exploitation.

In an effort to disrupt and prevent harm, we remove content that facilitates or coordinates the exploitation of humans, including human trafficking. We define human trafficking as the business of depriving someone of liberty for profit. It is the exploitation of humans in order to force them to engagein commercial sex, labor, or other activities against their will. It relies on deception, force and coercion, and degrades humans by depriving them of their freedom while economically or materially benefiting others.

Human trafficking is multi-faceted and global; it can affect anyone regardless of age, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, gender, or location. It takes many forms, and any given trafficking situation can involve various stages of development. By the coercive nature of this abuse, victims cannot consent.

While we need to be careful not to conflate human trafficking and smuggling, the two can be related and exhibit overlap. The United Nations defines human smuggling as the procurement or facilitation of illegal entry into a state across international borders. Without necessity for coercion or force, it may still result in the exploitation of vulnerable individuals who are trying to leave their country of origin, often in pursuit of a better life. Human smuggling is a crime against a state, relying on movement, and human trafficking is a crime against a person, relying on exploitation.

Do not post:

• Sex Trafficking, covering minors and adults;
• The sale of children for illegal adoption;
• Orphanage Trafficking and Orphanage Volun-tourism;
• Forced Marriages;
• Labor Exploitation (incl. bonded labor);
• Domestic Servitude;
• Non-regenerative Organ Trafficking;
• Forced Criminal Activity (e.g. forced begging, forced drug trafficking);
• Recruitment of Child Soldiers.

• Recruitment of potential victims through force, fraud, coercion, enticement, deception, blackmail or other non-consensual acts.
• Facilitation of human exploitation by coordinating, transporting, transferring, harboring or brokering of victims prior or during the exploitation.
• Exploitation of humans by promoting, depicting, or advocating for it.