Smugglers use TikTok to promote services Thai court jails

A PHOTO posted to TikTok shows a group of people dressed in camouflage, hoping to blend into the shadowy vegetation dotting the nighttime landscape of the Mexican desert. The picture was not uploaded by social media influencers on an adventurous vacation – it's an advertisement by people smugglers.

Technology-savvy criminals using the popular video-sharing app are posing a growing challenge to Mexican and US authorities fighting a regional migration crisis.

"Departing this weekend. People from Mexico interested in crossing to the United States, leave your messages," the TikTok post said.

Another account offering to smuggle irregular migrants through the violence- wracked Mexican border state of Tamaulipas shows a photo of minors in an inflatable boat on a river.

"We also make crossings with children and family," it said.

An AFP investigation found dozens of similar accounts around the region, including in Guatemala, Colombia and Ecuador.

And using the hashtag #pollero – a slang term for a people smuggler – one account offered "safe work" for drivers in the southwestern US state of Arizona for payment of up to $15,000.

"If you have a car and want to make easy money, write to me," said a message in English. The advertising violates TikTok's official rules, which prohibit the "promotion and facilitation of criminal activities."

"Maintaining the safety of our community is a responsibility we take very seriously," a spokesman for the app told AFP.

"We do not tolerate content that promotes human exploitation, including human trafficking," he added.

According to TikTok, in the third quarter of 2022 the firm removed 82 percent of the videos linked to criminal practices on its own initiative. Seeking to fend off calls for the app to be banned in the United States as long as it remains a

Chinese company, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was due to testify before US lawmakers on Thursday.

He would deny that the app has, or would ever, share data with the Chinese government, according to his prepared remarks made available by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In Mexico, authorities have formed specialized cells to counter the threat posed by people smugglers on social media.

In a room full of computers in Mexico City, dozens of experts from the government's Criminal Investigation Agency have been monitoring social media accounts since 2017.

A board lists people of interest and their online activities. The unit has been involved in around 300 human trafficking investigations, said Rolando Rosas, head of the communications center at the Federal Ministerial Police, part of the Attorney General's Office.

In Mexico, "digital service companies are obliged to hand over information when there's a crime," he said, welcoming the good cooperation with social media platforms. The unit's head, Benjamin Oviedo, said that his team intervenes, for example, when payment to a trafficker is agreed on or made through the internet.

But the advertisements are not always real.

"Many of the things that we find can sometimes be a fraud," said Rosas. AFP

In Brief

New 'glass-like' orchid species discovered in Japan

A NEW species of orchid with delicate, glass-like blooms has been discovered by Japanese scientists, who found the pink and white plant hiding in plain sight.

Despite its presence in Japan's parks and gardens, it took researchers at Kobe University a decade to confirm that the plant – dubbed the "Spiranthes hachijoensis" –was a previously unknown species.

"It was a surprise to discover a new species of spiranthes, which is so common that you can see it in parks, gardens and among potted plants," lead researcher Kenji Suetsugu told AFP Thursday. Some of the samples were "from potted plants and gardens," including ones kept at a high school in Japan's central Gifu region, the phytology professor said.

"From its curious look and dainty blooms that resemble glasswork, this flower has long been loved by people," the university said in a press release.

The plant, with its spiralling blossoms, was even mentioned in Japan's oldest anthology of poems, the eighth-century "Manyoshu."

Australian senator accuses police of 'assault' at rally

AN Australian senator on Thursday claimed she was "assaulted" by police at a rally in Canberra, prompting an official review.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was brought to the ground during an altercation with officers at a small antitrans event, where she was launching a counterprotest. Cell phone footage of the incident showed Thorpe

Aussie embassy ex-staffer over toilet spycams

A FORMER IT manager at the Australian embassy in Thailand was sentenced on Thursday to two years in jail for installing spy cameras in women's bathrooms at the mission.

Nayot Thamsongsana, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of committing an indecent act, under the kingdom's sexual and public nuisance laws.

The cameras were discovered after a memory card was found on the bathroom floor in 2021, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

It is not clear how long they had been installed for.

"The court found him guilty of two counts and sentenced him to two years on each, but with his confession, the penalty was reduced by half," a prosecutor told AFP.

Nayot was sacked and arrested in January 2022, when the embassy filed a formal complaint.

Sixty women had submitted statements to the police during the investigation, according to ABC. Digital sex crimes, including the sharing of intimate pictures or videos without permission, remain relatively unusual in Thailand. AFP trying to burst past police officers toward the protest and being dragged back by a male officer.

As officers tried to help Thorpe to her feet she crawled away shouting "let me go," and then walked away.

The Australian Federal Police said it was aware of the matter, adding that it was under investigation.

"The interactions between the AFP and protesters will be reviewed, and an incident has been referred to the AFP's Professional Standards Command," police said in a statement.

Thorpe is known for attention-grabbing protest actions.

She recently blocked Sydney's Gay Pride Parade by lying in the road and was removed by officers.

Thorpe later said she had been protesting police participation in the event. AFP

1st 3D-printed rocket lifts off but fails to reach orbit

THE world's first 3D-printed rocket launched successfully on Wednesday, marking a step forward for the California company behind the innovative spacecraft, though it failed to reach orbit.

Billed as less costly to produce and fly, the unmanned Terran 1 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:25 pm (0325 GMT Thursday) but suffered an "anomaly" during second-stage separation as it streamed towards low Earth orbit, according to a livestream broadcast by aerospace startup Relativity Space.

The company did not immediately give further details.

While it failed to reach orbit, Wednesday's launch proved that the rocket – whose mass is 85 percent 3D-printed – could withstand the rigors of lift-off.

The successful launch came on the third attempt. It had originally been scheduled to launch on March 8 but was postponed at the last minute because of propellant temperature issues.

A second attempt on March 11 was scrubbed due to fuel pressure problems.

Had Terran 1 reached low Earth orbit, it would have been the first privately funded vehicle using methane fuel to do so on its first try, according to Relativity. AFP