ATHAR Project and CINTOC Joint Statement on Updated Securities and Exchange Commission Filing on Facebook Crime

Internet crime watchdog organizations Center on Illicit Network and Organized Crime (CINTOC) and the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO) have released a major new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding ongoing crime and terrorism content on Facebook.

The filing builds on two earlier SEC whistleblower filings unmasking widespread criminal trafficking activity in wildlife and illicit antiquities on Facebook. CINTOC and the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project are proud to have worked on these earlier filings and applaud the work of whistleblowers who continue to come forward in this fight.

CINTOC’s 2017 SEC filing and ATHAR Project’s work in a 2019 SEC filing sought to hold social media companies accountable for allowing traffickers in wildlife and illicit antiquities to run smuggling operations from their websites.

The updated complaint filed ahead of Facebook’s May 27 shareholder meeting details how the company pressures moderators not to remove illegal and toxic content, misleads the public and the investment community about its commitment to removing such content, and consistently makes marketing and business choices that further facilitate organized crime activity across its family of platforms.

As founding members of ACCO, CINTOC and ATHAR Project stand by our commitments to hold social media companies accountable for continuing to facilitate black market activity on their platforms.

You can read more about the updated filing in the press release on ACCO’s website at counteringcrime.org