After several years of urging Facebook’s parent company Meta to address the growing animal torture problem on its platform, Lady Freethinker (LFT) took the issue directly to Meta headquarters in a peaceful protest — as part of a global day of action to end animal cruelty on social media.
LFT staff and supporters showed up at 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA with signs, banners, and a clear message: Facebook has a responsibility to stop animal cruelty from being posted, funded, and promoted on the platform.
As part of LFT’s demonstration, a mobile billboard truck circled the headquarters playing videos of animal cruelty found on Facebook. Videos of baby monkeys being mutilated, drowned, set on fire, and killed continue to spread on the platform. Animal torture groups continue to use the social media company’s platforms to promote, fund, and share the abuse. Puppies, kittens, and other innocent animals are also put in dangerous situations in fake rescue videos. The problem of animal cruelty on social media is not going to end unless the platform takes action.
Lady Freethinker
Ahead of the protest, Nina Jackel spoke to a reporter from technology-focused magazine PCMag about the issue. The article asks the question: Why doesn’t Facebook implement a more robust moderation system to flag and prevent animal torture from being posted?
“Meta, as the parent company of Facebook, is responsible ultimately for what is on that platform, and unfortunately, we’re finding that videos of animal cruelty and torture are proliferating,” Nina Jackel said in the interview. “It’s where people who enjoy watching sadistic videos of animal torture congregate and share their videos, and unfortunately Facebook is not doing enough to stop it.”
Animals do not deserve to be abused on social media for “entertainment” — or any reason.
Lady Freethinker was joined in the day of action by animal protection organizations across the globe — including Action for Primates (AfP) in London and Welttierschutzgesellschaft (WTG) in Berlin.
AfP brought a report demonstrating the animal cruelty problem on Facebook along with a letter addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Meta’s London office. The office refused to take the campaign materials, according to AfP co-founder Sarah Kite.
WTG took to the streets of Berlin to pass out stickers and spread awareness. The organization also encouraged their followers to publicly call on social media leaders to do more to stop the cruelty.
Left: Action for Primates; Right: Welttierschutzgesellschaft Ev
LFT also led a virtual campaign calling on the company to do more to stop the cruelty. Activists across the globe took to social media to urge Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to #TakeAction.
Protestors at Lady Freethinker’s demonstration shared the hope that continued public pressure would force Facebook to take responsibility for the abuse which is given a platform on the social media site.
Lady Freethinker’s petition calling on the social media giant to stop animal torture has been signed by over 71,000 people. At LFT’s demonstration in Menlo Park, the public’s reception of the protest was overwhelmingly supportive. A huge number of trucks and cars honked in support — including people who appeared to be Meta employees leaving the headquarters.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the day of action. By raising our voices together we may continue to pressure the social media company to finally take action for animals.
If you haven’t already, please join the action by signing and sharing the petition for change.
