As the social video platform TikTok has exploded in popularity over the last few years, it has found an audience and set of creators among migrants. Scores of asylum seekers and other migrants have used the service to document their trips to the U.S.-Mexico border, offering tips and sharing anecdotes with loved ones and others worldwide. Similar dynamics have occurred along the Mediterranean, where untold numbers of migrants have steeled themselves to cross from North Africa into Europe by first reviewing hours of other peoples’ journeys on TikTok. TikTok, Instagram, and other social media can also have tremendous impact in encouraging people to migrate. Scenes of affluent shopping malls, fast cars, and ostentatious lifestyles—almost all of them surely exaggerated—seem to have played some role for Albanians and others heading to the United Kingdom, and have prompted UK authorities to team up with social media companies to limit posts by human smugglers. Indeed, smugglers and coyotes have been some of the most active in using social media platforms as advertising. Posts promising safe passage to the United Kingdom, United States, and other top destinations have become a mainstay of migrant-focused social media. The COVID-19 pandemic helped exacerbate this trend, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as closed borders prompted new demand for smuggling services and a whole range of communications moved to the virtual world. This should not be much of a surprise. As Amanda Alencar explained in the Migration Information Source in July, many asylum seekers and other migrants view cellphones and social networks as essential, helping them plan journeys, stay connected with family, and simply pass the time during long waits. Unlike closed Facebook groups, WhatsApp conversations, and other private or semi-private channels, TikTok and Instagram are open, able to be seen by virtually anybody. That has both expanded the potential audience and allowed the general public to glimpse what would otherwise be a closed-off conversation. Aided by hashtags and algorithms that boost certain content onto viewers’ feeds, new platforms have an unmatched ability to spread images worldwide. Moderators can remove posts explicitly offering illegal services, but there remains a gray area of content that is not obviously smuggling-related. Social media companies have also expressed an interest in allowing space for conversations about migration, and face challenges identifying and removing content using arcane slang and code words. As these kinds of services grow in popularity, efforts to limit posts about irregular migration will face increasing obstacles. Best regards, Julian Hattem
Editor, Migration Information Source
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