Google, Facebook, and Other Tech Giants Unite to Fight Wildlife Crime Online
Tech companies launched a coalition today aiming to reduce the illegal online trade in ivory and other wildlife products by 80 percent by 2020.
The black market trade in ivory and rhino horn doesn’t just happen in the back rooms of stores or under the table at nondescript secret meeting locations. Increasingly the illegal wildlife trade has moved online, where anonymity and the sheer number of for-sale postings makes it hard to stop the smuggling. When one company cracks down, sellers simply move to another platform.
A new international effort aims to put a stop to this whack-a-mole effect. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), TRAFFIC, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare are launching the Global Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, bringing together technology, e-commerce, and social media companies to work together to squeeze out wildlife traffickers. The coalition includes Google, eBay, Facebook, Instagram,