Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Two years ago, Apple threatened to withdraw Facebook and Instagram from its app store due to fears that the Facebook and Instagram platforms would be used to trade and sell maids in the Middle East.

After publicly promising to crack down, Facebook admitted in internal documents that it had “weakly implemented confirmed abuses” and saw Filipina maids complaining about abuse on social media networks. Apple gave in, and Facebook and Instagram remained in the app store.

But Facebook’s crackdown seems to have limited effect. Even today, a quick search for “khadima” or “maid” in Arabic will reveal some accounts, which contain photos of Africans and South Asians, with age and price listed next to the photos. Even so, the Philippine government hired a team of employees who searched only Facebook posts every day in an attempt to protect desperate job seekers from criminal gangs and unscrupulous recruiters using the site.

Although the Middle East is still an important source of work for women in Asia and Africa hoping to support their families, Facebook acknowledged that some countries region have “especially egregious” human rights issues when it comes to laborers’ protection.

To other employers,” a Facebook document read. “In response, agencies usually tell them to be more accommodating.” The report added: “We also found that recruitment agencies ignored more serious crimes, such as physical or sexual assault, instead of helping domestic workers.”

News Source : Los Angle Times