An increase in animal cruelty content prompted Asia’s largest coalition of animal protection experts and nonprofits to organize the first dedicated international meeting on the issue in Indonesia in June this year.Research published by the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), which organized the Bali summit, showed Indonesia was by far the largest source country of distressing content, which includes abuse of threatened species such as macaques.A conservation official said online animal cruelty formed part of the illegal wildlife trade, which the U.N. estimates is worth $23 billion annually.
BALI, Indonesia — The booming market for animal abuse content brought dozens of international animal protection organizations to Indonesia in June for the first in-person summit to confront a growing online entertainment industry founded on suffering.
The Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA), a network of more than 400 animal welfare and conservation organizations around the world, established the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) in 2020 in response to the spread of animal cruelty online. Afa is the world’s largest network of animal welfare nonprofits.
SMACC then organized its first international summit in Bali on June 11 and 12 to gather advocates and experts to plan tangible steps to address online abuse of animals.
