Think that pet monkeys on social media are cute? Think again.
Macaques are being abused as pets on social media, and social media platforms are failing to protect them, animal experts warn.
Macaques being kept as pets are being physically and psychologically abused for social media content, states a new report released today.
Compiled by a coalition of 20 animal protection organizations, the report “The cruelty you don’t see: The suffering of pet macaques for social media content” documents evidence of content creators openly abusing monkeys on social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
The Asia for Animals’ Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) conducted research into this online trend, which it says is inherently abusive and is being fueled by social media.
Between September 2021 and March 2023, SMACC recorded 1226 content links from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, showing macaques kept as pets. The content ranged from seemingly “innocent” treatment to the violent and graphic torture of macaques and collectively had over 12 billion views.
