The agreement, which was implemented just over a year ago and is supported by the Home Office, has seen an increase in the number of takedowns, as the NCA worked with Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to increase their understanding of how organised crime used their platforms to advertise illegal services.

It comes as representatives from the social media companies met with senior NCA officers and Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick at the Home Office to discuss the progress being made, and to look at new ways forward.

The meeting heard how, since the action plan was agreed, there has been positive engagement with social media channels — who have acted quickly on intelligence supplied by the NCA and removed related content.

More than 3,300 posts, pages, and accounts have been removed or suspended as a result, increasing disruption of organised crime groups’ activity.

The NCA assess that this has led the criminals to adapt their tactics to avoid detection.

Speaking after the meeting, NCA Director of Threat Leadership Chris Farrimond said: “The last year has seen a strong partnership develop between ourselves and the main social media companies, with the aim of preventing organised crime groups utilising their platforms.

“Our understanding is growing all the time, and we now have a solid foundation which we can build on by working together.

“Tragically this last year has also seen a number of fatalities both in the English Channel and further afield in the Mediterranean.

“This hammers home to us all the need to do more to stop these crime groups who treat their fellow humans as a commodity to be profited from with no regard for their safety or security.”

Recommended

• Survey: The Most Desired Benefits for Women in Tech
• DIGIT Leader Summit 2023 | Just Three Days to Go!
• Glasgow Healthtech Firm Gains Notable ISO Accreditation

The NCA currently has more than 90 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of people smuggling or human trafficking – the highest number since the agency became operational nearly ten years ago.

Tackling organised immigration crime is therefore one of the NCA’s key priorities, and they continue to seek to disrupt the business models of these crime groups, through targeting their social media offerings.

The social media action plan was implemented to bring greater collaboration against those crime groups using social media to recruit, communicate, and advertise a range of services to migrants.

It sees a greater shared understanding of the threat from organised immigration crime between social media companies and the NCA, such as through the issuing of intelligence-based alerts by the NCA, as well as a more streamlined, two-way system of communication.