Ending human trafficking is a huge political and cultural conversation, experts tell Rolling Stone. So why does the internet always get the truth so wrong?
In 20 years, they’ll be writing about human trafficking the way we write about the satanic panic today. These weird hysterias have become absolutely emblematic of post WW2 american culture.
Robert Evans just did a Behind the Bastards episode about this and how a lot of the trafficking ‘warnings’ spreading around social media are essentially modern day chain letters that people keep forwarding on to others creating FUD.
The episode started with him talking about a recent story of a woman who travelled to El Paso to meet her boyfriend and took an Uber from the airport. During the drive she saw road signs for Juarez Mexico (essentially a sister city/suburb of El Paso with the boarder running between the two), assumed the Uber driver was trying to traffick her to Mexico, and shot him in the back of the head while he was driving.
I remember that case, really tragic. People are absolutely stupid and will believe absolutely anything so long as it confirms their biases even a little bit.
why does the internet always get the truth so wrong?
I love how this is framed like it’s the fault of the internet, and not just people being people. The same conversations being had on Twitter and the like are also generally being had face to face by regular, everyday people.
