In a blow to the people smugglers’ business model, the government has outlined new measures through its Plan for Change to crack down on social media content which promotes small boat crossings and fuels organised immigration crime.
Under a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament, a new, UK-wide offence will be introduced to criminalise the creation of material for publication online, which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of UK immigration law. This could include small boat crossings, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK, News Cover reports, citing UK government.
While facilitating illegal migration is already a crime, the proposed changes would add another string to law enforcement’s bow, better enabling them to disrupt the gangs while they are publicising people-smuggling activities and provide an additional tool when building a case against those peddling this content.
Home Office analysis shows that approximately 80% of migrants arriving via small boats told officials that they used social media during their illegal journey to the UK, including to locate or communicate with an agent or facilitator associated with an organised crime group.
Many people who come to the UK and end up working illegally are often sold a false narrative about their ability to live and work here, creating a draw for people to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in a small boat. That’s why this offence will also crack down on content which explicitly promises illegal work which clearly breaches UK immigration laws.
The proposed measure will also make it a crime to post online content that encourages someone to break UK immigration law in exchange for financial incentives. An example of this would be someone being paid by a people smuggler to post content on social media which promotes illegal journeys to the UK.
Individuals caught by the offence could receive a prison sentence of up to 5 years and a large fine.
