Facebook provides a home for illegal arms sales in Libya
Source: the verge
Social media networks are providing a new avenue for the trade of illegal arms in Libya and Middle Eastern countries. Weapons like AK-47s and truck-mounted machine guns are being sold via sites including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram, according to reports this week from BBC News and The New York Times. These reports are based on data collected by the specialist consultancy Armament Research Services (ARES) and commissioned by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey. The researchers involved in the study call for more scrutiny of these channels.
The emergence of an online market for light arms in Libya was triggered by the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the quasi-dictator and autocrat who ruled the African nation for more than 40 years. Gaddafi tightly controlled the arms trade during his time in power, but after he was deposed in 2011, the government's stockpiles were raided and a black market sprung up.
ARES' study covers an 18-month period in Libya, and found that although the majority of trades involved handguns and rifles, more advanced armaments are also up for sale. These include shoulder-launched rocket systems, or MANPADs — launchers which are too outdated to target modern military aircraft, but pose a great threat to civilian flights. A heavy machine gun will sell for around 8,125 Libyan dinars ($5,900) online, a rocket launcher for 9,000 Libyan dinars ($6,500), and a full anti-aircraft system for 85,000 Libyan dinars ($62,000).
Speaking to The Verge, ARES director and co-author of the report N. R. Jenzen-Jones said that most weapons were posted on social networks in private and open groups without a price. Buyers contact the seller to haggle over the price, with final sale arrangements often conducted via private messaging channels or phone calls. Jenzen-Jones explains that buyers often have links to non-government armed groups and militias, but that other customers include collectors, local notables who wish to buy weapons as status symbols, and individuals buying guns for self-defense.
Read more: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/11391928/facebook-libya-illegal-weapons-market-whatsapp-telegram
