Reply and update to a Supporter

Thank you for your question, Jane. Your support in signing the petition is greatly appreciated by me and, more importantly, on behalf of the monkeys.

This petition reached the required number of signatures to be considered by the decision-makers at Facebook, World Animal Protection and Mark Zuckerberg, and it was ultimately declared Victorious. Alongside this petition, there are two others that continue to support the removal of monkey abuse videos and help prevent new content from being created and shared.

A great deal has already been achieved, and much more continues behind the scenes. Large animal welfare organisations, social media platforms and various authorities are working together to remove this horrific content and stop those responsible. In the UK, legislation now allows social media platforms to face fines of up to £18 million if they fail to remove illegal animal cruelty content that is accessible within the UK.

I also used to explain to members of my Facebook group that many of the thousands of monkey abuse videos still seen on social media are, in fact, very old—often more than ten years old. In many cases, the monkeys featured have since been rescued, released, or sadly passed away. Although it can appear that nothing is being done, the priority is rightly to stop new abuse from being created, identify those responsible, and prevent further uploads. At the same time, Facebook and other platforms must continue removing old videos and prevent them from being repeatedly re-uploaded.

I hope this helps explain a little of what is happening behind the scenes. While it is upsetting to still see these old videos circulating, it does not mean the monkeys have been forgotten. They have not. The thousands of dedicated monkey advocates around the world would never allow that to happen.

Our shared hope is that one day animal cruelty content will no longer exist on social media, and future generations will never have to witness the suffering that so many of us have seen.