People Smuggling: Internet
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of times migrant smuggling content has been viewed before being taken down as a result of action from the Home Office over the past 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris
The Home Office and the National Crime Agency work with major social media companies to rapidly remove online adverts which promote organised immigration crime and since 2024 more than 18,000 posts, pages or accounts advertising organised immigration crime services have been removed. Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act a new offence will be introduced which criminalises the creation or publication of online content which promotes unlawful immigration services which could include videos of small boat crossings, the promotion of fake travel documents like passports and visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK.
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of times migrant smuggling content may have been viewed.
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