Long tailed macaques in a monkey farm in Cambodia.Supplied
Torture videos of animals, including those showing cruelty toward baby monkeys, should be banned under Ottawa’s coming online harms bill, animal advocates worldwide are urging.
They want the federal government to follow Britain’s lead and require social-media sites to pro-actively remove content showing animals being tortured – and for large fines to be imposed on those that fail to take down such content.
Sarah Kite, co-founder of the Britain-based project Action for Primates, said there is a worldwide trend online of images of baby monkeys being killed and tortured, with some being posted in Canada.
“These acts of extreme cruelty and depravity are recorded and posted on social media,” she said in an e-mail. “Such content is increasingly common and is not adequately addressed by social-media companies, causing extreme suffering to the animals involved and harm and damage to those who view it, especially children.”
Britain’s Online Safety Act, which became law in 2023, classified animal-torture content as a “priority offence,” putting it in the same class as child sexual-abuse content, threats to kill and revenge pornography.
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Under the British law, which federal officials in Canada have been studying as they prepare to introduce proposed online safety legislation next year, social-media companies have a duty to remove such content or face fines.
“We urge Canada to follow suit to implement effective legislation that requires social-media companies to implement and enforce strict guidelines prohibiting animal-cruelty content,” Ms. Kite said in the e-mail.
A year-long BBC investigation uncovered a global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the United States. It showed how social media was being used to pay for or give instruction to others on the torture of animals.
Research by Action for Primates found posts online by people living in Canada of sadistic torture videos of animals, including a person gouging out a baby monkey’s eye with a pair of scissors.
Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of Humane World for Animals Canada, said “there are well-documented and irrefutable links between animal abuse and violence to humans, and sexual contact with animals is the single largest predictor of increased risk of child sexual abuse.”
“Notably, our animal-crimes department often sees strong and definite connections between these two offences,” she said in an e-mail.
“Prohibiting the online distribution of images of animal sexual abuse and torture would be a meaningful and common-sense step for our government to take to protect both animals and people.”
A Justice Department bill introduced in December created a new offence banning the depiction of sexual abuse of animals, including bestiality deepfakes, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Barbara Cartwright, chief executive officer of Humane Canada, the federation of SPCAs and humane societies, said animal sexual-abuse images are frequently used by perpetrators to groom, manipulate and exploit children.
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Humane Canada has warned that children have been coerced online into creating abusive images or videos involving an animal. The abusers have then used that material to extort victims into further acts of harm.
“Criminalizing the distribution of animal sexual-abuse images is an essential step toward safeguarding both animals and children,” Ms. Cartwright said in a statement.
“These images are used as tools of coercion, intimidation and exploitation. Recognizing the deep and dangerous connection between violence against animals and the sexual exploitation of children is vital to building a safer Canada.”
The federal government is preparing next year to reintroduce an online safety bill after an attempt to get a similar bill through Parliament failed before the election.
The coming bill is expected to reintroduce measures from the last one, including requiring major social-media platforms to remove content within 24 hours that sexually victimizes a child, induces a child to harm themselves, or incites violent extremism or terrorism.
New Identity Minister Marc Miller is expected to shepherd the bill through Parliament with support from Justice Minister Sean Fraser.