Social media networks Facebook, YouTube and TikTok receive millions of dollars from sharing videos showing the content of animals being tortured and mutilated. Indonesia and the United States are the countries that produce the most for this type of content.
According to a study conducted by a group of animal advocacy organizations in Asia, the “Asia Animal Alliance”, it is estimated that the social network YouTube earned up to $12 million from viewing and sharing videos and the creators of this content received nearly $15 million. Businesses and organizations have also benefited from having ads in this type of video.
The study authors revealed that “horrific images of individual wild animals kept as pets and repeatedly abused in front of the camera were documented. Kittens and other small animals were burned while the breeders laughed,” adding that “burials with live animals, partial drowning, and beatings were also carried out. Documenting psychological torture.
The organizations found 5,480 addresses online pointing to videos of animals being abused, between July last year and August this year. The videos were posted as entertainment content and got around 5.3 billion views.
YouTube is the social network where you show videos Cruelest content Against animals, as in the videos from Thailand that show a dog being crushed by a python snake, so that the breeders can come to the rescue. In the case of Facebook, the social network also allowed the sharing of this type of videos without disclosing the content, after the platform monitored all videos of animal abuse.
Indonesia, USA, Australia, Cambodia, South Africa and South Korea were included in the study as the countries with the highest production of these videos, where baby monkeys are buried alive or tortured, and kittens are trampled on or run. Fire, people eat live animals, dogs and ducks are crushed by snakes.
Alan Knight, Executive Director of International Animal Rescue, noted, “It is unforgivable that social media companies turn a blind eye to the disgusting scenes of animal abuse posted on their platforms. It is a moral responsibility of these companies to suppress the content they show. Animals forced to suffer. For entertainment and financial gain.
“There is no doubt that these social media companies have the power to remove these videos and it is reprehensible that they have not yet. They feed the basic instincts of a corrupt minority and should be denied by the platforms and the public,” he added. Knight.
“Wildlife exploitation is happening on a massive scale and affecting the well-being of billions of animals,” said Nick Stewart, president of World Animal Protection, adding that it is necessary to “contact the companies” who are complicit in this exploitation and urge them to take responsibility for a solution.
The Asia Animal Alliance organizations are asking YouTube, Facebook and TikTok to start working with experts to develop “robust” monitoring systems to identify and remove cruel content without relying on user action to denounce the content of the videos.
A TikTok spokesperson revealed that they cannot “comment on the specifics of this case because we haven’t seen the specific cases, however, as a general principle, our community guidelines make it clear that we do not tolerate animal cruelty on the platform and take it when people violate these rules, such as banning them permanently.” from the platform.
“We use a combination of technology and human moderation to identify and remove content that violates community guidelines,” the social network’s spokesperson added, noting that the guidelines prohibit “cruelty and animal bloodshed,” “cut, mutilated, charred or cremated animal remains” and even animal slaughter.
