Facebook ‘gives global platform to illegal dogfighting’
Facebook ‘gives
global platform to illegal dogfighting’
Social media giant breaks its own rules on violence and animal
trading, say campaigners
Facebook has been accused of giving a global platform to
dogfighting after an investigation found the site is being used by fight
organisers and unscrupulous puppy traders.
Lady Freethinker
(LFT), the animal rights organisation, says the social media giant
is failing to obey its own policies which prohibit violent content and the sale
of animals.
In a report called The Deadly Underground World of
Dogfighting on Facebook, shared with the Observer, it accuses Facebook
of becoming “ground zero” for the discussion of particular dogs and breeders
involved in the often deadly trade, with much of the debate taking place on
closed forums.
Between December 2018 and February this year an LFT investigator
searched Facebook and found groups, pages and profiles promoting dogfighting
and the trafficking of animals used for dogfighting. More than 2,000 posts and
150 pages were found. The top five groups had a combined following of more than
160,000 Facebook users.
The investigator reported 26 posts
to Facebook for violating their policies. But the company declined to remove
all but six, instead suggesting the investigator simply block, unfriend, or
unfollow posts that it acknowledged “may still be offensive or distasteful”.
Some posts recorded how many
fights the dogs had won. Others sold puppies that had been sired by successful
fighters. Numerous photos showed dogs chained up in compounds, teeth bared,
faces scarred.
Facebook is failing to protect innocent animals from abuse and
possible death Nina
Jackel, Lady Freethinker
“This level of violence and exploitation of dogs is appalling,”
said LFT founder Nina Jackel. “Facebook is often used as a platform for
advocacy to effect positive change, but as our report shows, it is failing to
protect innocent animals from abuse and possible death. By not enforcing its
own policies against animal cruelty, Facebook is complicit in perpetuating
criminal acts against dogs.”
The investigator searched Facebook
for commonly used terms associated with dogfighting. They also followed
Facebook’s “suggested” groups, which were often found to promote dogfighting
activities, and flagged concerns about a number of closed groups that were
believed to promote the activity.
Many of the pages and groups use
coded terminology that would not immediately suggest the promotion of
dogfighting. A dog could be described as a “grand champion” (Gr Ch) with five
wins or a “champion” with three wins (Ch). Another common reference was the
type of pen the dogs usually fight in, with ones measuring 4ft by 4ft common.
Lady Freethinker, which is based
in Los Angeles, has launched an online petition, DefeatDogfighting.org, calling
for Facebook to actively seek and remove all content promoting dogfighting,
which is illegal in most countries but remains a common underground activity.
Outlawed in the UK since the
Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 and a crime in all US states,
the activity may now have migrated to social media, animal rights groups fear.
A Facebook spokesman said it was
investigating. “Content promoting or depicting staged animal vs animal fights
isn’t allowed on Facebook,” he said. “We’re grateful to Lady Freethinker for
bringing these posts to our attention and we have contacted them so we can get
the information we need to investigate this content.
“If people see something on
Facebook they think breaks our community standards, we encourage them to report
it using the tools on our platform so our teams can investigate and take
action.”
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