THE SOUFAN GROUP PARTNERS WITH POLARIS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST WEAPONIZED INFORMATION

(New York, NY – April 27, 2021) The Soufan Group (TSG) is pleased to announce a partnership with Polaris, a survivor-centered and technology-enabled nonprofit organization that works to reduce and prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America. Over the past year, The Soufan Group has worked with Polaris to support the organization increase its resilience to weaponized information, such as disinformation about human trafficking. 

“We are honored to partner with Polaris and to work together at the nexus between security, information, and the humanitarian space. Our organizations share the same values when it comes to taking a human-centric approach to security,” says Carlos Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer at The Soufan Group, on the importance of the partnership. 

Both The Soufan Group and Polaris seek to raise awareness about the threat posed by disinformation to the anti-human trafficking movement. In February 2021, Polaris, The Soufan Group, and Limbik co-authored a report Countering QAnon: Understanding the Role of Human Trafficking in the Disinformation-Extremist Nexus. “Disinformation about human trafficking serves as a gateway narrative that radicalizes susceptible audiences to condone, and even perform, acts of violence and terrorism. This ultimately poses a threat to the national security of the United States,” notes the co-authored report.

“Human trafficking is a uniquely complex and dangerous problem and the rise of disinformation adds a new set of threats to victims, survivors, and the civil society organizations that aim to serve them. We are proud to partner with The Soufan Group to deliver on a data-driven, technology-enabled security strategy to protect our mission,” says Anjana Rajan, Polaris’s Chief Technology Officer. 

The Soufan Group and Polaris will be speaking more about this partnership on Thursday, April 29th at The Sedona Forum. 

About The Soufan Group

The Soufan Group (TSG) is a global intelligence and security consultancy that helps clients in the public and private sectors enhance their ability to identify, assess, and successfully operate in high-risk, high-opportunity environments.

About Polaris

Polaris is leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight sex and labor trafficking at the massive scale of the problem — 25 million people worldwide deprived of the freedom to choose how they live and work. Learn more about Polaris by visiting www.polarisproject.org.