Human Smuggling via Social Media: New Penalties in Britain

5-Year Imprisonment for Online Human Smugglers

 

Human Smuggling via Social Media: New Penalties in Britain

The British government has unveiled new plans to combat human smuggling, this time targeting those who promote their services on social media. They will face prison sentences of up to five years and fines under a new crime to be added to legislation currently being passed in Parliament.

This measure comes at a time when Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour government are under increasing political and popular pressure to reduce the number of migrants entering the country illegally on small boats from France. According to Home Office data cited by Reuters, the number of people crossing the English Channel since the beginning of 2025 has exceeded 25,000.

Systematic Use of Social Media

Home Office analysis indicated that approximately 80% of migrants who arrived in Britain by small boat used social media at some point during their journey, either to find their smugglers or to communicate with them. In this context, the government stated that the new crime will provide law enforcement authorities with an additional tool to disrupt the activities of criminal gangs that exploit migrants' desperation for financial gain by facilitating illegal immigration.

In another step to strengthen oversight, the government launched a new sanctions regime in July 2025 that allows it to freeze assets, impose travel bans, and block access to the UK financial system on individuals and entities involved in facilitating irregular migration.

Although facilitating illegal entry into the UK is already a crime under existing laws, the government believes that strengthening the penalties and expanding them to include digital solicitation provides an additional deterrent and a clear message that "cyberspace is not immune from the law."