People Against Animal Cruelty on Facebook
- by: Carrie Pizzalato
- recipient: Facebook
With the explosion of social media we are all connected in an instant. People across the world come together to share photos, videos, stories, ideas, and more. Unfortunately, it is becoming all to common that some of the things people share are at least inappropriate, and sometimes downright disgusting. Sure, you can report a photo or video, but all that really happens the offensive material is taken down. No one is truly held accountable. Some of the most heartbreaking content that is seen more and more lately involves the abuse, torture, and death of animals. No one should have to see a video of innocent baby chicks being ground up in a wood chipper or a kitten being sliced in half by a deranged woman. Unfortunately, with Facebook's new "autoplay" feature, you are forced to watch these horrible videos without even clicking play. The videos and photos just keep coming, day in and day out, damaging people's fragile psyche. For people especially sensitive to the suffering of animals these videos and photos can have a lasting effect. You can never unsee something, and when images like these pass before your eyes you will remember them for a lifetime. Do we really want young people seeing things like this? What happens if people see these things too many times? What if they become used to the images and they no longer bother them? They become apathetic. No one should be hardened against the pain of another living creature. We don't deserve to be forced to view these images and videos. We don't deserve to be traumatized while we are trying to catch up with old friends, while sharing photos with family, while connecting with the world. Facebook could do something to prevent this, but they choose not to. There should be harsher punishments for individuals who propagate this smut, these snuff films. Facebook should ban members who do this and there should be a no tolerance policy. But it needs to go beyond that. These horrific crimes must be reported to the proper authority. Now that animal cruelty is a felony if severe enough we must bring an end to animal suffering and bring these monstrous people to justice. We must stand up and say, "no, it's not OK!" If we come together we can change things. Be the change you want to see in the world! Say no to animal cruelty on social media!
Facebook Authorities,
Please review your policies regarding the treatment of unwanted pictures and videos of animal abuse on Facebook. We demand more action be taken besides merely removing offensive material. We know not everyone is sharing these videos and pictures for sadistic purposes, some are indeed trying to raise awareness for these terrifying crimes. However, we feel Facebook is not the place to do this. There are many people on Facebook who love animals deeply and are highly sensitive to violence against them. Even if they support the cause the video or picture is trying to push, it is traumatizing just to see the video or picture. Why should people, especially children, be forced into seeing these images when they are trying to catch up with friends and family? Do you really think you can "unsee" something as horrible as animal cruelty or that if you report the images you won't be emotionally affected by it? Another major contribution to this problem is the new Facebook feature called "Auto-Play." With this feature videos automatically play as soon as you scroll through it on your feed and because of this many people are exposed to abusive materials without expecting it, asking for it, or wanting it. Is this fair? Though it is true you can turn off "Auto-Play" there are many people who have trouble with Facebook settings and since "Auto-Play" is the default for viewing videos it is very difficuclt to get around this issue. Furthermore, several times people on Facebook have disabled "Auto-Play" only to have Facebook turn it back on for unknown reasons. Sometimes it is because of an update maybe, but why does this have to be the standard? Why can't videos only automatically play if you change it in the settings? Though the issue of the videos is troubling for these reasons, there is literally no way to filter out these offensive images.
We also want more done about the creators of these videos and images when they are sharing them for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence. While we agree people who are merely sharing something to condemn it shouldn't have their profiles deleted or suspended, they should be harshly warned. Individuals who are sadistically creating the images shouldn't merely have the images taken down. More should be done than even warning them or banning them or deactivating their profile. They should be immediately reported by Facebook officials to law enforcement. Facebook should not just sit around waiting for law enforcement to contact them about these issues, they have a responsibility to bring justice to the most popular social media website in the world. They have a responsibility to the customers and clients to do everything in their power to protect them from these violent, traumatizing, and emotionally abusive posts.
Signed,
True animal lovers of the world
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