In the wake of a recent investigation by the BBC’s Countryfile program, Facebook and YouTube have taken videos that were promoting illegal animal bloodsports which have apparently been on the rise despite efforts by various authorities to crack down on the activity. Even though the illegal videos have been removed, both sites still host the users who are known to posts graphic photos and videos featuring banned hare coursing and cockfighting in the United Kingdom.
Facebook tried to take a step further by removing one of the users for not adhering to local laws but this does not even come close to a significant step towards curbing the issue. YouTube, on the other hand, reportedly decided to remove all the material that broke its policies but only the videos highlighted by a recent BBC report were removed which leaves hundreds or even thousands more lingering somewhere in their servers. In fact, most of the related material in both sites remain – they can easily be traced to both private and public user groups.
It Is All Business, Apparently
The Hunting Act of 2004 banned hare coursing – a sport where hares are hunted by dogs in competition against each other – while cockfighting was declared to be illegal back in the 19th Century and yet both activities have continued. Officials from authorities tasked with overseeing related issues are yet to take any stern action and have instead opted to ask for responsibility from the media and tech giants.
“It’s down to these social media companies to take on that responsibility. At the moment, we are still talking to them to be responsible in the hope that that will happen…. But I would always urge the public to call it in to ourselves or the police because what matters to me is stopping it,” Geoff Edmond, the RSPCA’s national wildlife coordinator.
There is a lot of skepticism regarding the overall effectiveness of all of these measures since there is something much bigger at play – the gambling business. According to authorities and police forces across the United Kingdom, the organizers of the bloodsports (illegal and legal, if any) have been using social media platform such as Facebook and YouTube to live stream the material and the main reason for this is the promotion of gambling activities. In fact, a recent raid revealed that the illegal activities were taking place on a regular basis and the perpetrators were able to take advantage of advanced encryption and private groups to stream the videos. The gambling business is quite lucrative and it is therefore not surprising that it has ties in such activities.
Clearly, clearer policies on the issue of bloodsports are required going forward and social platforms including Facebook and YouTube will need to play a huge part in ensuring that the policies are adhered to.
