In July, many Users of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram saw articles alleging that expensive furniture and other products with human names in Wayfair.com were evidence that it was trafficked with young people lacking on the online retailer’s website.
The conspiracy theory exploded on social media around July 10. On Facebook alone, the word “Wayfair” was discussed in thousands of posts the following week, and there were millions of social media interactions with that content, according to the crowdtangle platform.
From non-public accounts with few subscribers to verified social media influencers with thousands of followers, users temporarily disseminated the theory.
This led USA TODAY fact checkers, Reuters, Snopes and others to investigate the validity of the information. All reported that the conspiracy theory lacked credible evidence. However, many social media users remain convinced of its validity.
Here are seven things you want to know about Wayfair’s traffic theory.
More: How an Arizona couple helped fuel Wayfair’s traffic theory
The theory is that Wayfair treats young people under the pretext of promoting family pieces such as cupboards, pillows and shower curtains.
When someone buys a product indexed for thousands of dollars, theorists seem to believe that the user indicates the preference to buy a child whose call is also the call of the product. Some have suggested that this would be done by entering a promotional code, establishing an urgent delivery approach or maintaining a Wayfair Professional account.
Believers argue that the names of some Wayfair products fit with those of young people who lack them in the United States. Some also think that the dimensions and weights of the products are in fact descriptions of young people and not illustrated products.
In a user’s screenshot, a “Samiyah five – self-service garage cabinet” indexed by $12,899.99. After many others expressed alarm about a 17-year-old Samiyah Mumin who was not in Ohio in 2019, a woman who identified herself as Mumin went to Facebook Live on July 10, 2020 to verify that she was not missing.
Poynter’s virtual media education project, Mediawise, revealed that Mumin and several other young people whose names matched Wayfair products had disappeared but no longer existed. Mediawise reports that a user of social media users connected to the plot, Yaritza Castro of Connecticut, has been found.
Theorists then turned to the Russian search engine Yandex to discover that children, not family items, were being sold on the Wayfair website. The search for a particular SKU, or product identification number, preceded by the word “src uses” or “src ru”, abbreviations of the United States and Russia, in the effects of Yandex photographs in photographs of children.
The meaning of “src” is unclear, some have advised a connection with a Russian modeling agency. There does not appear to be a link between the product call and children’s calls in image search.
The plot seems to come from a consultation on Reddit’s conspiracy theories forum on July 9: “Is Wayfair conceivable to worry about human trafficking with its WFX Utility collection? Or are they just incredibly expensive cabinets?”
Nearly 3,000 comments followed and the theory evolved further in this thread and in derived conversations.
Users intervened in links to products likely overvalued on Wayfair’s website, and their suspicions increased when some classified ads were removed or their costs down.
A Wayfair spokesman told USA TODAY: “The products in question are commercial quality cabinets with exact prices.”
“Recognizing that the images and descriptions provided through the supplier did not adequately explain the maximum price, we temporarily got rid of the products on the site to rename them and provide a description and more detailed images that, as it should be, illustrate the product to explain the price,” he said.
At the same time, those conversations have gone from an audience of other people who have interaction in conspiracy theories to the general public on other social media platforms.
QAnon was born as a far-right conspiracy theory around 2017 in the forum founded on 4chan’s image. One confidence is that President Trump is looking to divulge a clique of Satan-worshipped pedophiles who are high-ranking officials and celebrities involved in a child sex trafficking network.
It gave the impression that there was an overlap between those who had already committed to the content of QAnon and those who shared the Wayfair conspiracy theory, designating it as evidence of a large-scale sex trafficking scheme.
Some have attempted to link Wayfair’s theory to Ghislaine Maxwell, an alleged wife and partner of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a registered sex offender who in 2008 pleaded guilty to seeking out a minor for prostitution. She was arrested on July 2 and was charged with six federal offences for alleged complicity in child pimping for Epstein. She has begged not to be to blame.
A statement Maxwell photographed with Wayfair’s “chairman of operations,” a position that doesn’t exist today, debuted through The Associated Press.
Since Reddit’s conspiracy forum, Wayfair’s theory has become widespread and shared across influential people on social media.
An Arizona couple, Maddie and Justin Thompson, won tens of thousands of fans on Instagram after posting a receipt for a $17337.98 credit card transaction, followed by a 40-minute live video explaining why they bought a beloved workplace on Wayfair to get out. traffic theory.
Before any of the messages are deleted later. The video has had thousands of views.
Other influencers, adding up those who have no interaction in conspiracies, have also promoted the theory. They shared screenshots of beloved Wayfair products in their Instagram stories and expressed surprise at the idea.
The Republic of Arizona sought the experience of Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, director of sexual trafficking intervention at Arizona State University. He is also a member of the Arizona Human Trafficking Council and the Mayor’s Working Group on Trafficking in Persons in Phoenix.
While Roe-Sepowitz may simply not communicate the veracity of Wayfair’s theory, he told The Republic that he appreciated the opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking, which “happens every day” in Phoenix, he said on July 13.
“The truth of traffic is heartbreaking,” Roe-Sepowitz said. “There is nothing intriguing, nothing romantic” about the people who are devoid and victims of trafficking, he said.
“I’m glad this story is of interest to the public, but the victims probably don’t relate to Wayfair,” Roe-Sepowitz wrote in an email to The Republic. “They are right in front of us on 27th Avenue, at our local hotels, online on sex sales sites and dating sites.”
He said others who have posted articles on child trafficking on social media can “translate their attention” through volunteering and cash donation to credible organizations.
Tim Ballard, founder of the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad that opposes child trafficking and former special agent of the Department of Homeland Security, went viral in a video released on July 12. Ballard is located in Utah and California.
“The police will do this, and we will have our answers as soon as possible, but I need to tell you this: young people sell themselves this way,” Ballard said in the video. “There’s no doubt: young people are sold on social media, on websites, etc. I’m glad at least other people are waking up, especially now.”
Ballard verified or denied the veracity of the particular theory.
Polaris, which runs the U.S. National Anti-Trafficking Hotline, has obtained enough recommendations from affected individuals to factor more than a week after the Wayfair conspiracy theory gained ground online.
“In recent days, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has gained tons of reports that refer to a series of viral messages that the Wayfair online store was involved in a complex task related to child sex trafficking,” Polaris said.
“While Polaris treats all calls to the traffic hotline seriously, the excessive volume of those contacts has made it more difficult for the traffic hotline to provide and pay attention to others who need help.”
It continues: “What we can say is that none of the reports we made in relation to Wayfair contained data other than data that was widely shared online. Children. We deeply appreciate the members of the public who have contacted the anti-trafficking hotline from concern.”
In Arizona, the sergeant. Ann Justus of the Phoenix Police Department had “heard of service calls” similar to the theory until August 13.
Wayfair denied the traffic complaint and defended its costs, while alleging a “price problem” on some product pages, in various media outlets.
“Of course, there is no fact in those claims,” a Wayfair spokesman told USA TODAY.
A Wayfair spokesman told Reuters that the company uses a set of rules to call its products. The rule set uses “first calls, geographic locations, and non-unusual words to name.”
Contact the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4968.
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