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- Facebook has been fighting wildlife trafficking on its platform for nearly a decade.
- Despite efforts to curb the sale of endangered animals and ivory, finding sellers is easy.
- It took BI 20 minutes to find endangered squirrel monkeys and other exotic species for sale.
After all, you really can Find something on Facebook.
Used lawn furniture, homemade baked goods…endangered species.
It’s not a new phenomenon. The outlet has reported on wildlife trafficking for years on Meta’s massive social media platform, and Facebook has been working with the World Wildlife Fund since 2016 to combat illegal trade in wild animals and rare animal products such as ivory. Controlling the spread.
However, despite efforts to remove content, sellers are still surprisingly easy to spot.
Undark Magazine is an award-winning, independent science and culture publication. A market for distinctive bowmouth guitarfish horns has exploded on Facebook this week, selling them as jewelry and other accessories, contributing to the endangered fish’s extinction. It was reported that.
In 2022, Vice News reported that it took less than 24 hours to arrange the sale of an endangered tiger.
Facebook’s parent company Meta was a founding member of the Coalition to End Online Wildlife Trafficking in 2018, but finding these illegal products is now even easier than it was a few years ago. Maybe, Business Insider has discovered.
20 minutes to the monkey
It took BI less than two minutes to identify a Facebook account selling bowmouth guitarfish horns. Within 20 minutes of browsing various groups on Facebook, BI discovered that in addition to traditional pets and livestock such as puppies, guinea pigs, and animals, endangered squirrel monkeys, various exotic birds, and caracal cats , identified several species of turtles for sale. chicken.
Some groups had more than 10,000 members.
A representative from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, pointed out to BI the platform’s internal policies regarding land, animals, and animal products, stating that listings on the platform do not allow the buying or selling of animals, animal products, or land in ecologically protected areas. It was pointed out that this indicates that it is not intended to promote such activities. .
Pages identified by BI as violating the policy were removed, a Meta spokesperson confirmed after reviewing the content.
Meta representatives did not respond to questions from BI regarding how posts that violate this policy are moderated or whether groups and posts in languages other than English have similar moderation practices. Ta.
How social media promotes the sale of invasive species
Crawford Allan, senior director of wildlife at the World Wildlife Fund, told BI that online sales of rare pet species have exploded on social media platforms since the pandemic, and illegal traders are increasing their knowledge base. They range from private sellers to organized crime groups. .
“It’s hard for online companies to keep up with the sheer volume of pet lists and the cunning techniques criminals use to circumvent automated filters on social media,” Alan said, adding that the biggest challenge is crime. He added that it is about staying ahead of the group’s adaptation.
For years, the World Wildlife Fund has provided companies in the anti-trafficking coalition, such as Meta, with data that helps them identify new keyword search terms that illegal sellers are using, as well as information about illegal sellers that they have detected. It has provided images of illegal products and suspicious listings so that they can be removed. The 47 leading technology companies in the coalition have pledged to use WWF’s insights to remove 80% of wildlife trafficking content from their platforms by 2020.
But a study released the same year by the Online Crime Fighting Alliance found that despite support from conservationists, Facebook “failed to keep its promises.”
“With just two mouse clicks, our researchers were able to uncover important content related to wildlife trafficking,” the researchers behind the ACCO study wrote. “By mimicking the search process that the average Facebook user uses when trying to purchase illegal wildlife products such as ivory or exotic pets, we found that human traffickers operate easily and openly on the platform. I understand that.”
Economic ripples of extinction
In addition to the climate crisis, wildlife trafficking is also contributing significantly to the rate of species loss around the world, according to a global non-profit environmental organization. Rare Conservation lists endangered species such as the black rhinoceros, African elephant, and Amur leopard as close to extinction due to their popularity in the wildlife trade.
ACCO’s great ape trafficking experts reported that more than half of the world’s great ape trade takes place on social media, with young primates fetching more than $20,000 to sellers. The group found that approximately 75% of Cheetah’s illegal online transactions take place on his Meta platform, Instagram.
WWF’s Alan said: “Illegal wildlife trade is the second most important threat to endangered species after habitat loss.” BI told BI, adding that social media platforms are now the dominant market for illegal trade in endangered wildlife. “To meet global demand, thousands of species are being exploited and many populations are at risk of extinction.”
It’s not just animals that suffer when they are traded to the point of extinction. According to a United Nations report, it is endangering global food security by damaging agriculture, destabilizing markets around industries, and destroying ecosystems.
A study published in the journal Global Environmental Change estimates that the economic benefits we receive from the environment range from $125 trillion to $145 trillion annually worldwide. Jill Atkins, dean of financial management at the University of Sheffield’s School of Management, told financial news outlet Investec that while it is difficult to calculate the impact of extinction, the loss of a single major species could be a significant portion of that $125. He said there was a possibility of a loss. -145 trillion — otherwise wipe it out completely.
“Illegal wildlife trade, facilitated by transnational organized crime networks linked to drug, human and arms trafficking, threatens not only wildlife populations.” Alan told BI. “But our global security, human health, community livelihoods, and lawful business operations are important.”
Correction: March 23, 2024 — A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of technology organizations that have signed WWF’s anti-animal trafficking pledge. It’s 47 instead of 30.
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