Social media sites are home to all kinds of ills. Aside from the usual threat factors such as deepfakes, malware, phishing, and identity theft, it can also facilitate more sinister acts such as grooming and drug peddling. The latest risk scenario is even more macabre as it involves the online trade of human remains and risks of grave robbery.
“Social media is helping drive trade in skulls, bones and skin products as UK legal void risks new era of ‘body snatching,” notes a report by The Guardian. The outlet pulled images of human skulls that were listed on Instagram and got them analyzed by forensic experts.
Three of the skulls showed signs that are associated with decomposing remains inside a coffin. Some of the remains analyzed by experts had dirt and remnants of human tissues, indicating that they were a product of “recent excavation.”
The root cause
Experts note that inherent loopholes in the Human Tissue Act 2004 in the UK are allowing unregulated sourcing and sale of human remains, even though laws covering their usage for medical purposes are tightly regulated. Owing to the legal gaps, “collectors and sellers are in effect free to buy, sell and modify human remains,” adds the report.
But it’s not only lawmakers and activists who are concerned about the recent trend. Even folks who do legitimate business of collecting and selling curiosities and antiques are worried. “The waters are becoming too muddy with stolen pieces, pieces that are grave-robbed, so many things that just aren’t right,” a UK-based seller of oddities was quoted as saying.
This won’t be the first time that an alarm against the online sale of human remains has been raised. In 2022, a LiveScience investigation found that “Facebook and Instagram are hubs for dealing in the dead,” a trade that covers everything from bones to fetuses and disfigured remains.
The outlet spotted 50 sellers of such items, some of whom listed the items publicly, while a few sold them in private groups. In 2020, the co-founder of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online told the outlet that the trade of human remains was encouraging grave robberies, adding to a report that exposed the sale of looted skulls and human body parts on Facebook.
A documented problem
It appears that even the medical science community is aware of the problem. Research that was published in the Mortality journal this year also detailed a case where human remains were put up for sale on Instagram. ”Medical specimen can only be purchased on respective Instagram pages or completely unbiased ones, which there are very few of,” says the paper.
One of the most cited research papers on the illicit trafficking of human remains, which was published in the Crime, Law and Social Change journal, notes that the true depth of this dark business is yet to be analyzed properly. It further adds that sellers dependent on walk-in traffic “could easily arrange for the sale of illicit goods.”
As for the reason why one would go to the extent of acquiring human remains, both untouched and modified, the paper offers a rather succinct but enlightening explanation:
“Whether practitioners are Western converts seeking to demonstrate their devotion to their new faith, or members of diasporas seeking to maintain practices crucial to their identity, the necessity of and “authenticity” lent by use of real human remains makes acquisition by even illicit means worth it for some.”
If you are interested in historical items or antiquities such as those described above, it’s best to enquire about the sourcing details and obtaining a provenance document. Additionally, there are local norms that govern the import or export of such items, so you should pay attention to those local license clearances, as well.
