Border Security Command

Approximately, 80% of migrants arriving via small boats debriefed by the Home Office stated that they have used social media at a point in their irregular migration journey, including to locate or communicate with an agent associated with an organised crime group.

The global operation of organised immigration crime for migrant smuggling and the borderless nature of the online environment means a collective international response to this online threat is therefore required. This is why online facilitation of migrant smuggling has been raised on the international agenda. The Home Secretary hosted counterparts from the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in September 2025 for the Five Country Ministerial where we committed to collective action on the online element of migrant smuggling. Similarly, the UK has endorsed the G7 Action Plan which features a commitment to tackling online facilitation of migrant smuggling.

The Border Security Command (BSC) provides strategic leadership across the border security system to disrupt the activity of organised crime groups which facilitate irregular migration. As part of this, the BSC has a dedicated policy team that is responsible for engaging with online industry, including social media companies, and developing policy interventions to disrupt the exploitation of the online environment for the facilitation of migrant smuggling. The Border Security Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 introduced offences specifically addressing the online element of migrant smuggling, such as the online advertising of unlawful immigration services. BSC officials also collaborate with international partners on the development of a global policy response to this threat; this includes engaging with them to aligning approaches and progress joint policy interventions.

BSC officials have developed effective and collaborative relationships with major social media companies to develop and strengthen the Government and industry’s collective response to the threat. This engagement has built mutual understanding of how organised criminals exploit platforms to advertise unlawful immigration services and increased activity to tackle this, therefore disrupting the gangs’ ability to exploit social media platforms. As a result of this collaboration with industry, we have ensured swift removal of unlawful immigration content, with over 28,000 accounts, pages and posts, identified by the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) referred to social media platforms since 2024.

Furthermore, the BSC funds the Online Communications Centre (OCC) within the NCA which primarily focuses on operational disruption of the online element of organised immigration crime. The OCC utilises this funding in part to develop enhanced intelligence, data and online capabilities to identify and remove criminal content and target facilitators.

Lastly, the Online Safety Act places statutory duties which require online services, including social media companies, to identify and mitigate the risk of illegal content on their platforms, including unlawful immigration material. In addition, online services are required to implement robust measures and reporting systems to ensure they can swiftly remove illegal content once identified. Ofcom, as the regulator, is charged with implementing the measures within the Act and ensuring compliance. With the Act providing a suite of powers that they can utilise should they encounter non-compliance.