LFT Investigates
YouTube Profits from Animal TORTURE
Findings
A Lady Freethinker investigation, featured in The Guardian, found that YouTube promotes animal cruelty with shocking frequency on its platform, failing to identify and remove the abusive content.
LFT discovered more than 1 billion views for roughly 2,000 videos glorifying animal cruelty. Read the full report here.
The Videos Portrayed:
Animal Fighting
Abusive Captivity
Eating Animals Alive
Fake ‘Rescue’ Videos
Hunting animals with animals
But Why?
Animals are being tortured just for video “views” and profit. The videos LFT found could have potentially earned $15 million in revenue for the YouTubers who posted them, and up to $12 million in advertising revenue for the company, based on averages reported by Business Insider. Some advertisers on these videos include Disney, Facebook, Nissan, Toyota, and Petco.
The report documented 146 YouTube channels promoting animal violence, totaling more than 30.7 million subscribers.
Most of the videos violate YouTube’s own Community Standards — which explicitly ban animal fighting, unnecessary animal suffering, and hunting using illegal practices — and U.S. and UK animal welfare laws.
This content is both incredibly cruel and dangerous for people. Many of the animals exploited in these videos are potential hosts for zoonotic diseases — like rabies, tuberculosis, Ebola, measles, and more — that can spread to humans.
LFT is calling on YouTube to show that it doesn’t prioritize profits over the humane treatment of animals. Sign our petition urging the company to take down these videos and adopt a strong policy to detect and remove all content promoting animal cruelty in the future.
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