Technology has created a dynamic, rapid and complex world which is globally expendable and it's characteristic attributes lies in connivance to the meaning of the word "transnational" in "transnational organised crimes". Transnational connotes something which involves the capability of of faring beyond the borders, boundaries and jurisdictions of the nations.

This transnational nature has been corroborated by technology due to its global outreach. Technology has offered a cooperative settlements between different organisations to carry out multiple transnational organised crimes.

Technology has not only supported the illegal cooperations between various organisations but it also facilitate the financial transactions in the form of money laundering to achieve illegal goals. The anonymity provided by the technology adds up to the severity of these crimes. Technology has become a tool for coexistence of international organisations.

Internet has provided a useful aid to analyse the feasibility of various business models (cost/benefit) to smoothly carry out their businesses with huge profits at low cost investments, this can be witnessed by analysing the trends of drug circulation and supplies in international markets. Technology has offered facilitating Bedrock for indispensable parts of supply chain like production supply distribution and transportation in the international markets.[1]

The rise in cyber-enabled organized crimes are at rise due to discreet its discreet nature which makes it near impossible to trace the trail of these crimes. The technological impact on the transnational organized crimes can be assessed in two forms i.e Cyber dependent crimes and cyber enabled crimes. Cyber enabled crimes are result of a catalyst(e-network) which works as a command and control centre for facilitating these crimes.[2]

The social media platforms and applications work as a catalyst as mentioned above. According to Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessments (IOCTA) which is conducted annually by Europol the crime has been developing as a service model/sector where criminal organizations are getting assisted by paid cyber experts.

The line between online organized-crimes and offline organized-crime has got blurred because offline organized-crime too are getting connected by digital tools such as encryption and cryptocurrencies for financial exchanges. The reach of these organized criminal groups has increased tremendously because approximately a half of the world population is in touch with the internet and associated technological innovations.[3]

The impact of technology on organized crimes though provided a global reach but it lack homogeneity due varying degree of internet penetration in the world. To counter this ever increasing menace of technology assisted organized crimes private-sector online service providers has a pivotal role to play by providing suitable information to law enforcement agencies and by regulating the content hosted by private-sector players such as social media platforms.[4]

Encryption Technology

Transnational organized crimes follow the business techniques and tactics and communication is the most important part of the business to run successfully. The transnational organized crimes get assisted by secured communication techniques like encryption. Encryption technique provide a discreet and anonymous access to the communication for criminal gangs involved in transnational organized crimes in order to cooperate with their partners sitting in different corners of the world.

The curious case of Sky ECC
A Canadian company Sky Global developed an end to end encrypted messaging application named as Sky ECC to facilitate anonymous, secure, non-traceable communication for its users. The main characteristic of this application was that it used to keep the identity and location of its users clandestine, this feature of anonymity helped international syndicates to communicate and cooperate globally. This application got indicted and later shut down by law enforcement agencies because it has become the common application for communication between transnational organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking.[5]

Money Laundering

Money is a primary motivation for all organized crimes. All illicit transnational organised crimes functions because of money involved in it. It works on the illegal finances that covers every nook and corner of the globe. All parts of an illegal activity needs finances to run successfully and these businesses are always profit oriented. Illicit businesses like drug trafficking, human trafficking and the trafficking of weapons, is a profitable business because of the demand.

It is obvious that white money cannot be used to finance these illegal trades, hence the white money is used for financing businesses, so black money is laundered and it is made legitimate through the process of laundering in order to finance the illegal trades.

To apprehend the criminals involved in the activities the principles like "follow the money" or the "paper trail" are important. Many times it is difficult for law enforcement Agencies to counter money laundering because the organised criminal groups generally invest in legal companies to cleanse their money and to avoid any type of interception by law enforcement agencies.

Organised crime Syndicate also invest in larger Markets and big businesses to minimise the risk of being caught because in larger markets the flow of huge finances is obvious and common. The laundered money is also used to fund the terrorist organisations all around the world. In today's time due to encryption technology and other assisting technologies which offers anonymity, the "follow the money" or the "paper trail" of money laundering is very much difficult.

Gone are the days of physical money aundering, today money laundering takes place in an online mode through highly discreet methods like cryptogrency. Cryptocurrency is a digital currency which works on the blockchain technology and featured with decentralization, peer to peer and end to end encryption which adds up to the calndestine nature as well as the anonymity.

Some cryptocurrencies like Zerocoin and Dark coin have been crafted so beautifully having the best encryption and protection from being traced. The organised crime groups also use banking malwares as a tool to launder money because banking malwares helps in concealing expensive and luxurious purchases as well as it also conceals the exchange credentials of cryptocurrency into physical cash.

To hide the profit made from investing in Companies and to hide the identity of the original source of money the transnational organised crime Syndicate invest in Bitcoin. Bitcoins also ensures large transactions which is usually a difficult task in physical mode. The online money laundering as well as physical money laundering has one thing in common i.e a general tendency of organised crime groups to invest money in real estate markets.

The online systems provide and open space for criminals to operate without exposing their identity and to maintain the anonymity making it nearly impossible for law enforcement agencies to trace these criminals. Some ray of hope for law enforcement agencies to counter money laundering online comes from open source intelligence platforms (OSINT), which provides evidences for investigations.

However the decryption of encrypted material is still an obstacle for law enforcement agencies. Issue with the decryption is that it have a tendency and possibility of breaching the privacy of other individuals, but at the same time the syndicate do not have to worry about privacy of others. After analysing all the above observations we can say that transnational organised crime syndicate as well as criminals have become more sophisticated these days in financing their illegal businesses and law enforcement agencies are facing a bigger challenge in being a step ahead of them.[6]

Drug Trafficking

Generally the selling and purchase of illegal drugs is difficult to carry out in a physical mode because of a sharp surveillance of law enforcement agencies all around the world, but the internet, specially the Dark Net has provided huge opportunities by facilitating the purchasing and selling of illicit drugs.

The ever increasing nature of selling and purchasing of illicit drugs through dark web and other internet sources can be understood by the fact that in 2013 the largest and the best known site for elicit drugs online named as the Silk Road has been banned and taken down by law enforcement agencies but the fact that amazed everyone that it failed in hindering the growth of of the online illicit drug market and the revenue from the sales of illicit drugs tripled between 2013 and 2016[7].

If we compare the online trade with the Global overall trade estimates, in 2016 RAND, Europe estimated the through online mode it generated 20 million US dollars of revenue while overall generation was huge amount of 625 billion dollars[8]. The online Marketplace has provided opportunities both, for the people to access drugs as well as for dealers to distribute them. During the pandemic the online market has increased significantly due to various restrictions put up by the governments all around the world.

Many wealthy and Middle Class drug users have shifted from offline mode to online mode which helped them in reducing the risk of getting caught or exposed and also to shun away from stringent lockdown measures adopted during the pandemic.The trend of shifting from offline mode to online mode during the pendemic has increased the possibility of adulteration in drugs significantly.

There are markets operating at both Open (Surface) Web as well as at Darknet

Open(Surface) Web - Operates in two ways:

1. Online Markets
   
   1. sell substances that are technically legal
   2. 'legal highs' or new psychoactive substances (NPS)
   3. sell supplements or pharmaceuticals, such as performance-enhancing drugs
2. Social Media
   
   1. Marketing by sellers 'by posting, videos, photos and statuses onto their social media feeds or "stories"
   2. Advertisements include credentials like price, quantity and availability.
   3. Operated by messaging or contacting the seller directly.
   4. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are most commonly used
   5. Transactions on encrypted platform like Whatsapp

Darknet

• It facilitates both illicit and as well as legal objects but the amount of former being much higher.
• Majority of transactions related to drug trafficking takes place on darknet.
• Listing of substances is done
• Most vendors of illicit drugs are specialists and no other products are offered by them.
• The durgs on darknet are sold in the similar way as that of legal goods and substances are sold at the open web. At darknet people can provide their reviews and read the review of others and the transactions can also be conducted by the people.
   

The penetration of technology and communication techniques can be seen through examples like - El Mencho, of the Sinaloa cartel used to communicate between their members and people at higher posts through whatsapp groups. The end to end encryption and easy to use and install makes whatsapp a common choice for various drug traffickers around the world.

It mitigates the risk of being arrested and hijacked. Financial transaction apps like EcoCash which is commonly used in Zimbabwe are also used because the dealers and consumers need not to carry hard cash and thus they prevent themselves from being arrested or hijacked and also cash can be used as evidence against them.[9] Social media platforms are also getting used for the recruitment of dealers and sellers. The factors which contribute the illegal trade of drugs on darknet includes safety, quality, ease of purchase and anonymity.

Countering these illegal activities online is a difficult task for law enforcement agencies due to various reasons like:

1. The law enforcement agencies have to cooperate with the private sector e-commerce platforms and social-networking sites and for obvious reasons they will exercise their discretion which makes the process cumbersome.
2. Even if the private sector e-commerce platforms and social-networking sites cooperate with the law enforcement agencies the sellers adapt to the changes at a very rapid pace and thereby reduces the impact of restrictions. For example, in 2017, Facebook disabled certain key search terms - for example, 'OxyContin', 'Xanax' and 'fentanyl' - on its search engine and replaced some search results with adverts for substance-abuse treatment. Sellers adapted quickly by putting the name of their product in their Facebook profile name, thereby enabling searches to function as before.[10]
3. Use of code languages and emojis also present a serious challenge for law enforcement agencies as well as private sector e-commerce platforms and social-networking sites.[11]
4. After crackdown on large online illegal marketplaces, it gets segregated into small scale marketplaces and even language based market places targeting a particular nation or locality.
5. The crackdown on large online illegal marketplaces will further encourage the dealers and consumers to move towards encrypted social media applications like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Telegram which makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to gather data and to curb the illegal activities.
6. Use of cryptocurrencies makes it difficult for law-enforcement agencies to trace the financial transactions.
7. The balloon effect also poses a big roadblock for curbing illicit trade of drugs.
    

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Human Trafficking

According to a report by International Labour Organisation the human trafficking is an ever increasing menace affecting almost 40 million people around the globe. If the data of trafficked people is analysed we will find that 71% of them are women and girls and 25% of them are children. This illegal industry generates revenue of around 150 billion US dollars every year.[12] The victims of human trafficking are generally exploited through forced labour and the most of the revenue which is generated through human trafficking comes from commercial sexual exploitation.

The incidents of human trafficking and its related aspects are more prevalent in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia. Digitalisation and networking has immensely increased the offences of human trafficking, one of the major example is the online child sexual exploitation another things are sextortion, online grooming and live streaming of sexual acts to a closed group of audience. Live streaming makes it difficult for law enforcement agency to trace and counter this illegal activity because there is no evidence or record left Behind once the live streaming is over.

The perpetrators face a very less risk and costs because they do not have to present physically at the place of exploitation or to commit the acts of exploitation nor they have to present physically with the victims. In 2018 according to the data provided by technology companies over 45 million online images and videos were reported and flagged under the category of child sexual abuse, it was highest and double the data of 2017.[13]

During the times of the pandemic when governments were busy in handling the Healthcare situations the online trafficking activities has increased tremendously because the demand and supply of child sexual abuse materials swell to the huge extent. There are various reasons behind this spike, some of the reasons are:- closer of schools, non supervision of children, restriction on offline movement etc. According to Europol the largest spike was seen in April 2020.

The child sexual abuse material was circulated on online sites, the number of downloads increased and the number of material also increased in peer to peer sharing networks during the Covid pandemic.[14] Federal Bureau of Investigation have also warned about the grooming cases.[15] The problem with countering the child sexual abuse material is that it multiplies at a rapid pace and it remains available on the online platforms until they are taken down.

As the internet penetration increase the connectivity among the perpetrators, traffickers and victims also increase significantly. The technology has facilitated planning recruitment and exploitation of victims and it has also facilitated transactions through money laundering and other illegal ways to maintain the anonymity and security.[16] Traffickers generally use highly sensitive technology that are encrypted and it use invitation only Deep web forums like WhatsApp, DarkOde and Shadow Crew.

The major victims of these illegal activities are children and teenagers and especially the women children. The online grooming is done through chat rooms, messaging apps and social networking sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Kik[17]. The advertisements of promising jobs are given through social media platforms which ultimately lure a person to fall into the trap and traffickers use this as a method of exploitation of labor Once the victim falls in this trap he is completely cut off from social media by the traffickers so that he cannot take help from others.[18]

In increasing the menace of human trafficking the Information and Communication Technology such as Internet chat rooms,webcams, voice chat systems, online games and virtual worlds such as VR chat or second life have a major role to play because these systems are used to force and coerce the victims of child trafficking into being sexually exploited. The data generated from this online sexual abuse is initially live streamed then recorded from live stream and then distributed on the internet.

According to an estimate around 150000 child trafficking advertisements are posted on internet everyday. Due to the inability of law enforcement agencies to trace the live streaming chats and child sexual abuse material the traffickers use these methods very frequently. Societal attitude like stigmatization and poverty and the consent of families in some cases also adds up to this problem.

The marketing of victims are also done on the online platforms by traffickers in the form of various escort services on the internet websites like Backpage and Craigslist. Further the financial games from these activities are supported by anonymous and discreet tools like Cryptocurrency[19].

Migrant Smuggling

Human smuggling is an old concept but in recent years this situation has bloated due to various reasons like:

1. Legal migration has reduced due various stringent measures adopted by various countries around the world.
2. Displacement of people due to conflicts, violence and climate change.
3. Displacement of people due to terrorism ex. Syria, Yemen, Iraq etc.
4. Displacement due to global inequality
5. In the wake of better lifestyle, peace and progress

When these factors combine with issues like border and visa restrictions citing security issues the market for illegal smugglers swole. According to an estimate the human smuggling market is one of the fastest growing illegal criminal market estimating upto the worth of 7 Billion Dollars. In past 6 years it has expanded to huge levels.[20]

The online advertisement combined with the internet penetration has given the ocean full of opportunities to smugglers. The major steps regarding combating illegal migrant smuggling has been taken by European Union in by expanding the base of Internet Referral Unit which was earlier constituted to combat terrorist propaganda and violent extremist activity online. The law enforcement agencies are using ICT based technology and online anti smuggling operations in European Union to combat illegal smuggling.

The operational techniques of smuggling industry is flexible, dynamic and evolving. by applying these techniques they try to prevent their bosses from the wrath of law enforcement agencies. The blatantly misuse encrypted Communications and social media platforms to carry out their activities and use. superior technology which makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to tackle and track them Generally this industry is based on face to face interaction but online interaction through social networking sites takes place only at initial stage for finalizing issues like elements of contract, travel costs and other formalities.

Social media is used as a fundamental tool by the smugglers for various purposes like advertisement for searching potential clients and for providing logistics support to the smugglers globally. The major social media platforms that are used by the smugglers globally are WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and Viber.

Smugglers also use social media platforms to threaten and extort money from the family members of the migrants and victims. Smugglers generally belong from the same ethnicity from which the victim belongs and that's why they use local apps for example Line is popular in Thailand and in some South East Asian countries but it is not so popular globally, so for global communication famous social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook are used. The innovation in technology has led to the modernisation of transactions between smugglers and clients and it has brought innovation in the Hawala market.

The Hawala market flashes because of revenue from human smuggling. Now a days cryptocurrencies are also used by the smugglers around the globe to facilitate their transactions in order to shun away from surveillance of law enforcement agencies. In past decade the online connectivity has increase significantly and through this connectivity the migrants are able to get access to the smugglers as well as the risks and routes involved in their migration.

In this illegal business of smuggling of migrants the reputation of this smuggler holds much importance and this reputation is further supported by the connectivity when the real time feedback is given by the migrants during the journey and the evidences through voice over internet protocols, Viber and other instant messaging application are given regarding regarding the safe arrival of the person which helps in improving the reputation of the smuggler in the international market.[21]

Illegal Wildlife Trade

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or CITES) covers the issues related to the illegal trade in endangered species and wildlife. The illegal trade in endangered species and wildlife poses and existential threat to the wildlife and resources of the developing countries.

The international market is flooded with e-marketing of trade in endangered species and wildlife through various online sites and social media platforms. The base for the market of illegal trade in endangered species as well as biodiversity gets expanded due to International connectivity leading to the increasing demand by the consumers.

Indonesia is the hub for illegally traded species specially the endangered reptiles and parrots species. China is a global market for ivory and rhino horns and other things of endangered nature. There are International instruments like global coalition to end wildlife trafficking online but the efforts put by these instruments seems to show no progress and they are in no situation to effectively counter the illegal trade in endangered species and wildlife.[22]

The most significant observation in this regard is that most of the trade in endangered species and biodiversity takes place at surface web or at the open web and it is a good sign for law enforcement agencies to combat, counter and control the illegal marketing of endangered species and biodiversity.[23]

Major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram WhatsApp and other E-Commerce platforms such as eBay acts as a facilitator for this type of illegal activities. The smugglers from Indonesia, UAE, Pakistan, Brazil and Madagascar frequently used these applications to carry out illegal trade activities.[24]

Though social media platform and eCommerce platforms have policies to restrict the people who engages in these type of illegal activities but it seems that these policies are not being enforced effectively. Sometimes our complete focus on these social media Giants keeps us away from keeping an eye on local social media platforms and sites where these type of illegal activities are carried.

In Indonesia national sites such as Kaskus, Ceriwis and Carousell are involved in illegal trade of endangered parrot species and some other local sites which are generally kept secret are also involved in illegal trades[25]. The nature of trade in online illicit wildlife markets is heterogeneous in nature because it covers a wider base involving small collectors to large supply chain arrangements.[26]

The online trading has increased the demand as well as supply of endangered species and wildlife significantly it has also supported new traders and Consumers to enter this illegal wildlife trade market and it has facilitated transnational connections between dealers and suppliers all around the globe.

The internet had allowed even those people who had no connection with this trade earlier and they are establishing themselves quickly in this market. The dealers and suppliers provides open advertisements for wildlife products on the internet which enables the casual buyer to purchase these items without any risk as well as hesitation.

The social media has brought the demand in direct contact with the source for example there are instances of purchase directly contacting the poacher for some specific demands. This illegal market also get pump from enthusiastic collectors who collects and owns rare species, unique wildlife as well as endangered specimens as a matter of pride and Prestige[27].

All the countries around the globe are trying to combat this online illegal trade in wildlife and biodiversity but still the law enforcement agencies faces multiple challenges like[28]:

1. The online trade can outreach the jurisdictions and this is supported by heterogeneity in laws which involves that a certain species is illegal in one country and legal in the another country, these types of situations exacerbate the already impending challenges.
    
2. The internet has facilitated trade in expanding at a rapid pace and controlling and monitoring these type of illegal activities becomes a non feasible affair for law enforcement agencies if they are not equipped with costly advance technological monitoring systems.
    
3. The regulation of social media platforms which facilitate these types of illegal trades is also a tedious task.

Conclusion
Social networking sites and e-commerce platforms play a significant role as a facilitator in all types of transnational organised crimes that has been discussed above. At the international level there has always been a debate as how to adjudge the role of these social media companies involved in fuelling online transnational organised crimes.

Even till today most of the countries don't have regulatory framework for social media giants but now its high time to ascertain the accountability of these platforms. European Court of Justice (ECJ) has clarifies that anyone of the Eurpean nation can force the social media platforms to remove the content if it is defamatory or unlawful.[29]

ECJ has gone even further in stating that EU member states can require platforms to 'apply duties of care, which can reasonably be expected from them and which are specified by national law, in order to detect and prevent certain types of illegal activities. In Spain the Spanish Data Protection Authority came up with the intiative that gave responsibility to people to find out sexually explicit and violent content available on various social media platforms and to report such content to the platform.

If the request remains unsuccessful the Spanish Data Protection Authority can be directly contacted. The request will be reviewed within 24 hours of receipt and it will then demand the platform to remove it, if it is harmful. If the platform still fails to perform the duties then it will attract penal consequences.[30]

India came up with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which aims at deciding the accountability of Intermediaries (Social media platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

According to these guidelines Social media platforms are allowed to carry on their business in India but they have to abide by the statutes and the constitution of India. These rules attempt at imposing accountability and responsibility on the intermediaries regarding the abuse and misuse of their platform in commission, aid or abetment of crimes.

These rules provide a elaborate grievance redressal mechanism (Three tier) for the users in the time bound manner. It also provides removal of illegal content from platforms on complaints by users and objections by authorities and conducting a due inquiry for such purposes. The rules for intermediaries have been divided according to two categories i.e Social media intermediary and Significant social media intermediary.

It provides that due diligence must be observed by intermediaries while hosting contents on their platforms. It forbids platforms from hosting information and data which may prove detrimental to privacy of personal Data, integrity and sovereignty of India etc. and it also mandates the intermediaries to remove the illegal content.[31]

Though technology, internet and social media has decreased the gaps between people around the globe but at the same time it has also drastically increased opportunities for crimes and specifically transnational organized crimes where communication and connection plays a major role.

If we analyse abovementioned notions as to how technology has added up to the menace of transnational organized crimes we will find that technology has not only aggravated the detrimental situation but has also provided a safety net for the perpretrators (reducing physical presence and facilitating online transactions).

Besides all these adversaries what we need is that to counter, control and monitor these transnational organized crimes the private players social media giants, companies and data protection organizations must work hand in hand with governments and law enforcement agencies. The data sharing in one of the key concept of this cooperation.

End-Notes:

1. Gurpreet Tung, Technology as a Tool for Transnational Organized Crime : Networking and Money Laundering, https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/jicw/article/view/2820
2. Europol, The relentless growth of cybercrime, 27 September 2016, https://www.europol.europa.eu/ newsroom/news/relentless-growth-of-cybercrime.
3. International Telecommunication Union, Statistics: Individuals using the Internet, 2005-2019, https://www. itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx.
4. Available at URL https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-tech-organized-crime/, accessed on 11/04/2022
5. Available at URL: https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/800-criminals-arrested-in-biggest-ever-law-enforcement-operation-against-encrypted-communication, accessed on 12/04/2022
6. Gurpreet Tung, Technology as a Tool for Transnational Organized Crime : Networking and Money Laundering, https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/jicw/article/view/2820
7. RAND Europe, The role of the 'dark web' in the trade of illicit drugs, Research brief, 2016, https://www.rand. org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB9900/ RB9925/RAND_RB9925.pdf.
8. Ibid
9. Available at URL https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-tech-organized-crime/, accessed on 11/04/2022
10. Josh Constine, Facebook cracks down on opioid dealers after years of neglect, TechCrunch, 16 August 2018, https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/16/facebook-opioidsearches
11. Liz McCulloch and Scarlett Furlong, DM for details: Selling drugs in the age of social media, Volteface, September 2019, https://volteface.me/publications/dm-detailsselling-drugs-age-social-media.
12. ILO, Profits and poverty: The economics of forced labour, Geneva, 2014. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/ public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/publication/ wcms_243391.pdf
13. Michael H Keller and Gabriel JX Dance, The internet is overrun with images of child sexual abuse. What went wrong? The New York Times, 28 September 2019, https:// www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sexabuse.html
14. Europol, Linkedin, child sexual exploitation, https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/ urn:li:activity:6651798977517764608/
15. FBI officials quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune, FBI warns of increased child-exploitation risks during COVID-19 crisis, 1 April 2020, https://www. sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/ story/2020-04-01/fbi-warns-of-increased-childexploitation-risks-during-covid-19-crisis.
16. UN Global Initiative to fight human trafficking, 017 Workshop: Technology and Human Trafficking, background paper, Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, 2008, https://www.unodc.org/documents/humantrafficking/2008/BP017TechnologyandHumanTrafficking.pdf.
17. BBC News, Kik messenger app to shut down, 24 September 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/ technology-49809449.
18. BBC News, Instagram biggest for child grooming online - NSPCC finds, 1 March 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/ uk-47410520.
19. Andy Brown, Safe from harm: Tackling online child sexual abuse in the Philippines, UNICEF, 19 October 2016, https://www.unicef.org/protection/philippines_91214. html.
20. Europol, Migrant smuggling in the EU, 22 February 2016, https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/ migrant-smuggling-in-eu
21. Available at URL https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-tech-organized-crime/, accessed on 11/04/2022
22. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as part of this coalition 'WWF and partners are collaborating with companies across continents, such as eBay, Google, Microsoft and Tencent, to unite the industry and maximize impact for reducing wildlife trafficking online.' See WWF, Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, https:// www.worldwildlife.org/pages/coalition-to-end-wildlifetrafficking-online
23. Currently there is little to no trading taking place on the dark web, although research by INTERPOL suggests that it still requires monitoring. See Tania McCrea-Steele, INTERPOL research says illegal wildlife trade exists on Darknet, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), 14 June 2017, https://www.ifaw.org/united-kingdom/news/ interpol-research-says-illegal-wildlife-trade-exists-darknet.
24. Aldem Bourscheit, 300 grupos de WhatsApp estão ligados ao tráfico de animais me todo o país, The Intercept Brasil, 10 October 2018, https://theintercept.com/2018/10/10/ grupos-whatsapp-trafico-de-animais (translated using Google Translate); Haniya Javed, The untamed market for wild animals in Pakistan, Herald, 30 November 2018, https://herald.dawn.com/news/1398726.
25. Indah Budiani and Febri Raharningrum, Illegal online trade in Indonesian parrots, GI-TOC, September 2018, https:// globalinitiative.net/indonesian_parrots.
26. Felipe Thomaz, Illicit wildlife markets and the dark web: A scenario of the changing dynamics, GI-TOC, November 2018, https://globalinitiative.net/illicit-wildlife-marketsand-the-dark-web.
27. Available at URL https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-tech-organized-crime/, accessed on 11/04/2022
28. Available at URL https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-tech-organized-crime/, accessed on 11/04/2022
29. C-18/18 Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook Ireland Limited
30. Agencia Española de Proteccion de Datos, Canal Prioritario, https://www.aepd.es/canalprioritario.
31. Available at URL : https://www.meity.gov.in/content/notification-dated-25th-february-2021-gsr-139e-information-technology-intermediary, accessed on 15/04/2022