Jakarta - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Indonesian government have warned that human traffickers are progressively exploiting digital technologies, including social media, online recruitment platforms, and digital currencies, to recruit and exploit victims with unprecedented speed. The agency said the trend has turned human trafficking into an emerging global digital safety challenge.

Speaking at the Commemoration of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2026 held in Jakarta on Thursday, 30 July 2026, UNODC Head Erik van der Veen said criminal networks are adapting rapidly to technological advances.

"We see that traffickers are exploiting digital platforms, social media, online recruitment, digital currencies to identify, recruit and exploit victims with unprecedented speed and reach," he said.

Van der Veen emphasized that trafficking is no longer solely a law enforcement issue but also a matter of online safety affecting people across borders. "Trafficking in persons is also an issue of digital safety that affects far more people than we like to think," he added.

The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA) also noted that trafficking patterns have shifted significantly in the digital era. Deputy for the Protection of Women's Rights Desy Andriani said traffickers now use online platforms to recruit victims more quickly, expand their reach, and avoid detection.

She added that technology is increasingly being used throughout the entire exploitation process, from recruiting and advertising victims to managing the financial operations of trafficking networks online. “These methods show that the line between cybercrime and its real-world impact is becoming increasingly blurred,” she warned.

Indonesian police echoed the warning, saying emerging technologies are providing traffickers with increasingly sophisticated tools to deceive potential victims. Representing the National Police Chief, Brig. Gen. Umar Surya Fana said artificial intelligence (AI) and digital identity manipulation technologies are making fraudulent schemes more convincing and difficult to detect.

“In fact, AI [Artificial Intelligence] and digital identity manipulation technologies—including deepfakes—now have the potential to further amplify the scams used by perpetrators to deceive potential victims,” he explained.

According to Umar, traffickers no longer rely on conventional face-to-face recruitment. Instead, they target victims through social media, messaging applications, online job portals, and other digital services, with many victims unaware they have been drawn into trafficking networks until it is too late.