Wildlife Cybercrime trends in China 2017–2018

In addition to the website platforms and social media that have been monitored in China in the past, this assessment expanded the 2017–2018 survey scope to online communities, APPs related to short video streams, second-hand trade, traditional Chinese handicraft trade, and websites focused on live reptiles.

The result showed that during the period of 2017–2018, the average number of new wildlife product advertisements every month on website platforms declined 73% compared to 2012–2016. On social media platforms, compared with 2017, 2018’s average number of daily advertisements declined by 25%, and average daily active users declined by 22%.

However, increasing numbers of advertisements of illegal wildlife products on social media and other online communities without any keywords or text were detected, favouring the use of icons and emojis — a development which could greatly increase the difficulty of market monitoring and law enforcement. The survey also showed that advertisements of illegal wildlife products are found in new emerging APPs. Some Chelonian species are thought to be traded through websites illegally.

The report’s findings showed the trends of online illegal wildlife trade, urging law enforcement agency to further strengthen supervision of Internet platforms and identify new channels for illegal wildlife trade