Coalition calls for ban on ‘harmful’ animal cruelty content

A coalition of groups is calling on the Government to not ignore “harmful” social media content depicting animal abuse when it introduces its Online Safety Bill.

The bill aims to protect children and vulnerable people from illegal and harmful content, and will place more responsibility on social media companies to moderate and restrict content across their platforms.

A coalition of groups – including Wildlife and Countryside Link, the Badger Trust, the AfA Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition and World Animal Protection – has written to the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology Michelle Donelan, urging her to make amendments to the bill as it goes through its final development stages.

Abuse and neglect

Content depicting animals abused or neglected have been documented by animal groups, while abuses online have also included of illegal UK badger baiting. RSPCA polling in 2018 found 23% of children aged 10 to 18 had witnessed animal cruelty or neglect on social media.

Peter Hambly, executive director of the Badger Trust, said: “The inclusion of badger baiting and cruelty towards badgers and dogs in the scope of the Online Safety Bill is desperately needed as the filming and sharing of this type of activity has increased with frightening speed.

“It is so cruel to the badger and the dog, but also to the viewer, many of whom are children. The inclusion would further advance the Government’s commitment to prioritising badger persecution and cyber-enabled wildlife crime as wildlife crime priorities, while demonstrating their obligations to the Bern Convention, the international treaty to which badgers are listed in Appendix III as protected species.”