SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. envoy to the United Nations said Monday that the U.S. government soon will move to stop violent gangs in Haiti from making money off social media posts.
UN Ambassador Mike Waltz will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "United Nations Accountability and Reform" at 10 a.m. EDT. Watch in our video player above.
Gang leaders in the troubled Caribbean country are prolific users of social media and have celebrated killings, issued threats and posted musings on various sites. Younger gang members also post music videos and wave cash they've earned in an effort to recruit children in the impoverished nation.
Mike Waltz, who recently visited Haiti, called the practice "incredibly disturbing" and warned the U.S. would "shut that down" in the near future. He didn't provide further details while speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York.
He spoke as the U.S. prepares this week to strip the temporary protected status of some 350,000 Haitians who live in the United States, exposing them to deportation, a move largely criticized by lawyers and human rights experts.
