USA Congresswomen question Google Ads re Sex Trafficking

In an effort to stop a rising tide of use of on-line networks for human trafficking, two US Representatives of Congress, Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democrat Carolyn Maloney of New York have sent a letter to the largest online search engine in the world, Google. Their letter focuses on the handling, receiving and allowing of online advertising on Google Adwords that may be allowing international and local human trafficking rings to sexually exploit women and girls.

‘Illicit on-line advertising threatens more than just the freedom of the internet – it denies women and children their fundamental right to human dignity,’ says Marsha Blackburn.

Whilst offering countless legitimate businesses and valuable services a way to reach global customers, Google’s Adwords platform may also be enabling illegal organisations including sex trafficking to thrive.

The two congresswomen now await a response from Google. ‘As a leader in technology, I encourage Google to lead in the fight against on-line human trafficking,’ says Carolyn Maloney. ‘Too many people believe that human trafficking is a problem only in foreign countries but on-line advertising has opened new markets for the estimated 100,000 children in the United States exploited through commercial sex every year, with the average age of first exploitation being between 12-13 years old.’

‘I have no doubt that if Google was found to profit from online ads that promoted human trafficking, they would immediately stop the placement of those ads,’ says Congressional Representative Blackburn.