Officials plan to fight Super Bowl sex trafficking with chat bot to catch paedophiles
School officials in Atlanta are educating students on the dangers of paedophiles
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An chatbot named Gracie that lures online predators, will be one of the tools used in a concerted crack down on sex trafficking by multiple US law enforcement agencies ahead of this this year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta.
As NFL teams fight it out to compete in the sport's showpiece event, federal, state, and local agencies have launched undercover operations raids and educational campaigns to try and stamp out the sex industry that often springs up around the big game.
The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been joined by local law enforcement agencies, private businesses, and the Atlanta Public School District. A chat bot named Gracie will also lure in predators online.
“These events … create horrible opportunities for traffickers, for commercial sex and human exploitation, and they certainly take advantage of vulnerable teens and children who go to our schools,” Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
She added: “We have schools all right up in there, and if they didn’t have enough drama in the regular day this is going to super-size their exposure”.
Ms Carstarphen and her colleagues plan on launching an informative campaign to tell students what to look for during the Super Bowl, and how to avoid becoming a victim.
Meanwhile, other organizations like Delta Airlines plan on running informational videos on flights, while the FBI works to eradicate the issue.
Organizers of those effort stay that 300 children are sold for sex every month in the state of Georgia, while 7,200 men pay for sex.
Other efforts to combat sex trafficking include a bus ad campaign wit information, as well as a chat bot named Gracie that will pose as a minor to try and lure in predators.
The Super Bowl will be played on 3 February.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments