A conspiracy theory began circulating on social media in mid-July, accusing the Wayfair furniture store of human trafficking through its online page. The theory, which temporarily went viral, states that Wayfair uses beloved pieces on its online page as a front for child trafficking. The fee is based only on the costs and names of certain articles, and there is no evidence of conspiracy theory.
At the time, Wayfair issued a report on the conspiracy, writing in an email to Heavy: “Of course, there is no fact in those claims. The products in question are industrial grade cabinets with exact prices.”
The company concluded that the items had been removed from the site: “Recognizing that the images and descriptions provided through the supplier were not priced at the appropriate maximum price, we temporarily removed the products from the site to rename and supply them. a more detailed description and images, as it should illustrate the product to explain the price.”
On July 20, Polaris, the organization guilty of the national hotline opposed to human trafficking, issued a long theory entitled “Polaris Statement on Wayfair’s Sex Trafficking Allegations”.
Here’s what you want to know:
– Polaris (@Polaris_Project) 21 July 2020
The statement, which is entirely on Polaris’ assignment website, explains that the national human trafficking hotline has gained many reports in recent days about the online furniture retailer. The organization did not say precisely how many calls it won, but said: “While Polaris handles all calls to the hotline seriously, the excessive volume of such contacts has made it harder for the hotline to supply and pay attention to others who want help. “
The traffic hotline, Polaris said, is not law enforcement. While working with the government as needed, its number one role is to link “victims and survivors of sex trafficking and work and supports to enable them to obtain assistance and remain safe.”
The organization wrote that all calls won were confidential, but clarified that in the case of Wayfair’s allegations, “none of the reports we won related to Wayfair contained data beyond what was widely shared online. None of these reports were made through a user with an express connection to suspected lack of children”.
Polaris thanked the citizens involved for contacting and suggested Americans learn more about what human trafficking is like to better protect their community.
The conspiracy theory turns out to have its origin in the contory/r/conspiracy subconsistence, where a user noted that some indexed cabinets on the Wayfair site were too expensive, around $13,000 to $14,000 consistent with the closet, and this may be just a front to human trafficking. Twitter users then posted photos of closets and press articles about what gave the impression of lacking young people with the same names as the closets.
Fact-checking site Snopes noted that “while this might seem suspicious to those looking for a model, it should be noted that there were more than 400,000 entries for lack of minors at the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2019.” He also shared that some of the homeless children’s bodies discussed in the conspiracy theory had already been resolved.
READ READ: Niraj Shah: Wayfair CEO on highlights after conspiracy theory goes viral