Monkey torture videos prompt drive to include animals in Online Safety Bill

Exclusive: Ministers urged to crack down after spread of graphic cruelty clips on Facebook and other social media

Members of social media groups share images and videos of monkeys that are chained and tortured (Action for Primates)

A coalition of wildlife organisations are urging peers to amend the Online Safety Bill in response to the growing practice of torturing animals for social-media videos.

In recent months increasing numbers of “horrific and graphic” videos and images of baby monkeys being filmed for abuse and even painfully killed have been posted online.

Clips that were being circulated in private Telegram groups have started appearing on social media platforms.

At least six public and private Facebook groups, the largest having 1,300 members, feature “extreme and graphic videos” videos, with members openly promoting them and commenting.

One study found more than 13,000 social media links showing animal abuse collected since March 2021.

Sarah Kite, co-founder of Action for Primates, said examples that film-makers carry out included: clamping an infant monkey’s body with pliers; using lit cigarettes to burn a baby monkey tied to a cage; setting parts of an infant monkey’s body alight and ensnaring monkeys into plastic bottles and setting dogs on them.

There are also clips of primates being run over by traffic. The Independent has seen even more horrific examples, with users posting “laughing” emojis.

“These people are currently operating in plain sight, unlike the Telegram groups, and the number of groups and members are increasing,” Ms Kite said.

“Many of the members and the moderators are using their real names, and although most seem to be from the US, there are also some here in the UK.

“This is a disturbing escalation in online content showing graphic and violent images of monkeys being abused, tortured and killed for ‘entertainment’. It is truly horrific.”

Action for Primates, together with dozens of animal-protection organisations, is lobbying for animal cruelty content to be included in the Online Safety Bill.

Screenshot of images used in a Facebook group (Facebook)

The new legislation aims to protect people by forcing social media platforms to remove content such as anything promoting self-harm and age-inappropriate content. Platforms must also block content showing, for example, child sex abuse, extreme sexual violence, fraud and hate crime, but the Bill does not cover animal abuse.

When the Bill reaches committee stage later this month, the coalition is urging members of the House of Lords to back amendments by Lord Stevenson of Balmacara that would force social media platforms to remove videos of animal torture.

The coalition includes the Wildlife and Countryside Link, whose members include big-name organisations such as Born Free. It says easy accessibility of such material is likely to cause children considerable psychological distress and harm.

In 2018, the RSPCA found that 23 per cent of children had seen animal cruelty or neglect on social media.

“The posting of monkey torture videos on social media platforms depicting extreme violence inflicted upon baby monkeys is sickening,” said Ms Kite.

“Online platforms have failed to effectively police or enforce their own guidelines and self-regulation is not working.

“Effective legislation is required to stop this harmful content. We urge the government to include animal cruelty content in the scope of the Bill.”

A government spokesperson said: “The Bill will tackle some online activities related to animal cruelty, including where that content amounts to an existing offence, such as extreme pornography, or where it could cause psychological harm to children.”

After The Independent asked Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to comment, the company removed some of the groups involved.

A spokesperson said: “We investigated the groups brought to our attention and removed content which violated our community standards.

“We do not allow animal cruelty on our platforms, and we remove this type of content when we find it. We also encourage users to report this content to us using the tools on our platforms, so that our teams can investigate and take action.”