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According to the US State Department, at least 24.9 million individuals around the world are believed to be victims of human trafficking.

Reported numbers on the books never truly comprise each and every case; however, 24.9 million by itself stands as a staggering number of enslaved persons.

Contrary to what some folks believe, human trafficking remains very much prevalent in the United States. Americans also often travel overseas to engage in the illegal sex trade that often involves minors.

With the rise of technology in people's lives, human traffickers and their buyers routinely use social media platforms to engage in buying and selling people.

Though Meta (the company once known as Facebook) recently made a commitment to use software and tools at its disposal to fight human trafficking.

What to know about Meta's commitment to fighting human trafficking

According to Meta, its work to combat human trafficking will entail use of a software tool known as Hasher Matcher Actioner.

In a nutshell, Hasher Matcher Actioner lets companies find various images via digital fingerprints tracking. From here, companies using this software tool can prevent the images in question from circulating online.

This could make a very significant difference, especially since Meta says it will share the Hasher Matcher Actioner with other companies. It is, unfortunately, very common practice for human traffickers to take photos (or videos) of the mostly women and children they exploit in order to sell them online.

Meta's software tool can change social media sites and other similar forums. Though national security specialist Matthew Schmidt warns the impacts of Hasher Matcher Actioner will be limited on the dark web.

Acts of human trafficking, and even terrorism, often occur on the dark web. Though if Meta's tool prevents or stops even one fraction of human trafficking cases, it will be worth it.

The use of Hasher Matcher Actioner may also go a long way towards helping law enforcement officers in their work to fight human trafficking.

The responsibility of social media companies

At this time, the reality of human traffickers using social media sites to engage in their crimes remains well-known.

This applies to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms; that includes chatroom platforms like Kik, WhatsApp, and even dating sites, such as Tinder, Bumble, etc.

Each and every one of these platforms has a responsibility to join the fight against human trafficking.

Given the dominant nature that social media plays in people's lives today, each of these companies can make a major difference by taking concerted, strategic measures to crack down against human traffickers abusing their platforms.

Anyone who wishes to report what they believe to be human trafficking can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline via phone at 1 (888) 373-7888 or by text at 233733.