Facebook hosts majority of online animal cruelty content - report

A staggering 87.5 per cent of animal cruelty content reported online in 2024 was found on Facebook, according to a new report released by the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC).

The coalition, comprising 34 animal welfare organisations including World Animal Protection, says policies on animal abuse are not being enforced, allowing harmful content to proliferate unchecked.

The report, published during the global awareness campaign “Report It! Week,” analysed 80,972 links submitted by the public.

Of those, more than 71,000 were connected to Meta-owned platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram. The findings raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of content moderation and the enforcement of anti-cruelty policies on these platforms.

“Social media companies must take this seriously,” said Tricia Croasdell, CEO of World Animal Protection.

“Policies should explicitly prohibit all forms of animal cruelty, and enforcement must be stronger, especially against repeat offenders and organised abuse networks. Animals deserve better,” she added.

SMACC’s deeper analysis of 2,050 selected links further highlights the scale of the issue. More than half—1,133—originated from Meta platforms, but only 36.3 per cent had been removed at the time of the report.

On Facebook, nearly a quarter of the reported content was categorised as “deliberate physical torture.”

On Instagram, the most frequent type of cruelty involved portraying wild animals, such as primates and big cats, as entertainers or exotic pets.

Among the most commonly targeted animals were macaques, dogs, and cats.

Alarmingly, the report identified at least 108 animals featured in the content as members of endangered or vulnerable species, including critically endangered orangutans and gorillas.

A further 33 animal types were flagged as “species-dependent,” potentially pushing the total higher.

The data paints a troubling picture of how Meta’s platforms are being used to spread abuse.

Despite having community standards prohibiting such content, the company’s response has been inadequate, according to SMACC.

Much of the reported material remains publicly accessible, often accumulating thousands of views, likes, and shares.

The findings emerge as governments around the world begin tightening regulations on online harm.

World Animal Protection noted that under the UK’s Online Safety Act, which came into force in 2023, animal cruelty is now classified as “priority illegal content.”

Platforms that fail to act swiftly can face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their global revenue. Similarly, the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), effective since February 2024, requires platforms to perform regular risk assessments and remove harmful content quickly.

Taiwan has also amended its Animal Protection Act, mandating cooperation from social media firms in cruelty investigations.

“These laws are setting the tone globally. Platforms must proactively detect and remove this content before it spreads,” Croasdell said.

SMACC is calling on social media companies to do more: remove cruel content promptly, collaborate with animal welfare experts, strengthen platform policies, and ban repeat offenders and abuse networks.

As part of “Report It! Week,” the coalition is urging the public to keep reporting online cruelty, emphasising that awareness and collective action are key to holding platforms accountable.