A billion-dollar black market is thriving online — and tech platforms are struggling to stop it

It isn't hard to find the heart of the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. It's happening online.

What's happening?

Per Mongabay, a recent report by nonprofit watchdog TRAFFIC found an "alarming breadth of online adverts" offering illegal wildlife products for sale in Vietnam. The research, conducted between June 2021 and July 2023, found widespread availability of products from endangered and threatened species — including elephants, tigers, pangolins, rhinos, tortoises, and freshwater turtles — across "major e-commerce and social media platforms."

TRAFFIC identified 22,497 online advertisements for illegal wildlife products during the study period. That's equivalent to 30 posts per day. Of those, 8,232 advertisements were for elephant products, while 8,327 advertisements were for tiger products.

The primary platforms used by traffickers were Facebook and Zalo, a Vietnamese instant messaging platform. A staggering 51.3% of illegal trade advertisements were found on Facebook alone. Importantly, the study noted that advertisements on Zalo dropped significantly toward the end of the study because the platform implemented a policy to lock accounts associated with the illegal wildlife trade.

TRAFFIC reports tiger products, elephant ivory, rhino, and pangolin products are among the most popular illegally traded items online. Advertisements for tortoises and freshwater turtles also included critically endangered and protected species for sale — advertised both as pets and as meat.

Products were advertised for various purposes, from ornamental to religious to medicinal to pets. Most listings were for animal-based traditional medicines, exotic pets, wild meat, jewelry, and ornamental pieces.

TRAFFIC also found traffickers are getting craftier with their postings to avoid detection from monitoring software. Some sellers hop to new groups or platforms regularly to avoid detection, per the report. Others use code words, slang phrases, or emoticons to evade tracking systems.

Why is stopping illegal wildlife trading online important?

Though it's hard to quantify, illegal wildlife trading is estimated to be a billion-dollar industry. This harmful trade directly threatens the survival of many endangered and threatened species. The World Wildlife Fund states that illegal wildlife trading is second only to habitat destruction in threats to species' survival.

Wildlife poaching can cause detrimental imbalances in a region's ecosystem, reducing the population of core species. This can have ripple effects across a region's animal and plant life, even impacting the people who live in those regions and depend on the natural environment.

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Simply put, thriving wildlife means thriving ecosystems and a healthier environment for all.

What can be done to prevent illegal wildlife trading online?

While there are laws in Vietnam banning illegal wildlife trading, that isn't enough to evade traffickers. More needs to be done — and it may start with tech companies.

In the report, TRAFFIC called for social media and e-commerce companies to "enhance their monitoring capabilities, train staff, and implement stricter policies against posts enabling illegal wildlife trade." The organization also said law enforcement and government agencies should partner with online platforms to investigate repeat posters — and to follow through with prosecution.

The nonprofit highlighted the need for traditional medicine to move away from using protected species. Additionally, TRAFFIC called for nongovernmental organizations to collaborate with online companies and governments to increase awareness and understanding of wildlife protection laws.

It's important to mention that TRAFFIC's investigation was done with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Saving Threatened Wildlife project. USAID, which provides billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance overseas, is under threat of being closed by President Donald Trump. His administration has said the agency is full of "ridiculous" and "malicious" pet projects with minimal oversight.

Research such as TRAFFIC's report, however, is key to understanding — and stopping — poaching and illegal wildlife trade. You can reach out to your representatives if you want to advocate for a solution that would support the continuation of these initiatives.

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