Dear John,

Images and videos showing the abuse and sometimes even killing of animals are easily accessible on social media, including by children, with little or no regulation. We are calling on the UK Government to change that through its Online Safety Bill and we need your support to ask them to take action.

The Asia for Animals’ Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition, of which Born Free is a member, has identified more than 13,000 social media links depicting animal abuse, in the past two years alone.

This horrifying content includes animals being psychologically abused, physically restrained, crushed, burned and otherwise mutilated while they are still alive. Some even depicts the sexual abuse of animals.

Research clearly shows that witnessing animal cruelty can result in psychological damage in children and makes it far more likely that they will come to view such abuse as ‘acceptable’ and engage in similar activities themselves. Polling by the RSPCA in 2018 indicated that almost a quarter of 10-18-year-olds had witnessed some form of animal abuse online.

Social media giants aren’t doing enough to remove this kind of content, even when it contravenes their own guidelines. 

That’s why we’re urging the UK Government to act by including content depicting animal abuse or wildlife trafficking as priority offences in its Online Safety Bill. The Bill aims to protect children and vulnerable people from “illegal” or “harmful” content and will place a legal responsibility on social media companies to moderate and restrict such content on their platforms.  

We need your support to ensure an amendment tabled by Lord Stevenson of Balmacara to include animal abuse in the Bill is supported by Government.

How You Can Help

On behalf of everyone at Born Free, thank you for your support.

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