Monkeys sexually abused in disturbing exploitation videos; puppies forced into the deadly grip of pythons — this heinous content is available worldwide on social media, where even vulnerable children can view it. How can we stop the cruelty — and ensure that it’s not viewed by others? Report it!
Reporting online cruelty may seem like a daunting task. To educate people on how to report this horrific content so that social media platforms are pressured to remove it, the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) has designated May 23-30 as Report It! Week. Lady Freethinker, a member of SMACC, is proud to participate in this global awareness effort.
SMACC has made it easy to report disturbing animal cruelty content. They’ve created a user-friendly Report It! Hub where you can learn how to report social media cruelty directly to the platform where it was uploaded, as well as a form to report what you saw to the Coalition.
It’s so important that we all speak out against this cruel content because all of our voices together will make change for the defenseless animals being tortured in social media videos. We can make a difference! In fact, SMACC has found that around 47% of the content it has reported to platforms has eventually been removed.
Not sure what type of content you should report? There are many forms of disturbing videos of animal torture online that are often masqueraded as “funny” clips or fake rescue stories. In reality, these beings are forced to endure pain and suffering at the hands of humans just to be shared on social media. Any content where an animal is injured, tortured, or made to be uncomfortable should be flagged.
That’s why LFT and SMACC encourage anyone who sees online cruelty to report it. While many websites like YouTube and Facebook have moderating systems, they are not perfect. These platforms pay attention to what content is being reported, and reporting cruelty can advocate for a change in policies.
Want to do more to address this issue? During Report It! Week, you can help spread awareness and encourage others to Report It! through posts on social media calling for change — Record a video of yourself sharing the dark realities behind online animal abuse, share a photo with the hashtag #ReportIt2EndIt, or visit the Coalition’s website to learn how you can get involved.
Take action now! Sign our petition urging Meta to remove content that promotes animal suffering, shut down groups and pages that post such content, and enact strong policies to ban animal cruelty from even being posted. Together, we can end social media cruelty to animals!
