This presentation examines how human trafficking manifests across digital environments and how AI increasingly shapes both exploitation and detection efforts. The session introduces the evolving online abuse lifecycle, demonstrating how traffickers leverage mainstream platforms, fragmented advertising ecosystems, and private messaging channels to recruit, advertise, and control victims across labor trafficking, child trafficking, and commercial sexual exploitation contexts. The central research questions ask: 1) How does trafficking operationalize in online spaces across different exploitation types? 2) What behavioral and content indicators distinguish trafficking from lawful activity? and 3) How can AI meaningfully detect high-confidence trafficking signals without overreach or misclassification? The research draws on analysis of more than 550 real-world online cases, including 400+ labor trafficking examples and 150 child exploitation cases across Southeast Asia. Using a structured indicator framework, the methodology combines qualitative case analysis with pattern mapping of recruitment language, migration pathways, coercive control tactics, and platform evasion strategies. Findings reveal that seemingly legitimate job advertisements often conceal debt bondage, document confiscation, and coercive control; that minors are marketed using coded language and rapid channel migration; and that commercial sexual exploitation relies on fragmented ecosystems designed to evade moderation. The research identifies industry- and geography-specific indicators, including scam compounds, forced labor sectors, and outbound trafficking flows. The presentation concludes with practical recommendations for trust and safety teams, policymakers, and law enforcement, emphasizing lifecycle-based detection models, high-confidence indicator frameworks, and responsible AI deployment to disrupt trafficking while protecting legitimate users.
Trigger Warning: This presentation contains information (written, spoken, or visual) that may be triggering or (re)traumatizing to attendees.
Dr. Avi Jager is Senior Director of the Severe Harms Department at Alice, where he leads efforts addressing high-risk online threats and advises major user-generated content platforms. He regularly briefs trust and safety teams, policymakers, and law enforcement, and has presented at leading international industry, academic, and governmental forums on online safety and regulation.