The Use of Social Media in Irregular Migration and Migrant Smuggling: A Qualitative Study in Türkiye

With the advancement of digital communication technologies, social media has become a critical platform for both irregular migrants and migrant smugglers. This medium directly impacts the mobility of irregular migration, making the battle against migrant smuggling and irregular migration in cyberspace a critical issue not only at a national but also at an international scale. Therefore, understanding how smugglers use social media is a pressing research priority. This study aims to uncover the purposes and methods of social media use by irregular migrants and migrant smugglers along migration routes. The research was conducted using semi-structured interview techniques with law enforcement officials, irregular migrants under administrative detention, and migrant smugglers who have been prosecuted for migrant smuggling crimes. A total of thirty-four people were interviewed in-depth. The results indicate that migrant smugglers actively use social media to communicate with irregular migrants and organize illegal crossings. Law enforcement agencies, in turn, track these digital traces to identify smuggling networks. However, the constantly evolving methods of migrant smugglers and their use of encrypted communication remain one of the biggest challenges faced by law enforcement.