Report Accuses Facebook of Hosting Largest Wildlife Black Market
The report says more than 20,000 wildlife ads on Meta platforms stayed online even after reports, raising questions about enforcement and monetization.
- On Monday, conservation groups released a report accusing Meta of hosting the world's "largest single known illegal wildlife trade market" and encouraging trafficking through advertising revenue sharing.
- Research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime found over 20,000 advertisements for more than 260,000 wildlife products between April 2024 and March 2026, describing Facebook as "the central public infrastructure" for scaling this trade.
- Daniel Stiles, an independent wildlife trafficking investigator, noted that Facebook's monetization model incentivizes illegal acts, with current listings openly featuring dead pangolins marketed as "seasonal wild delicacies."
- Tom Taylor, chief operating officer of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, stated he has repeatedly alerted platforms to sales without action, noting that even accounts identified in the new report remain active.
- Despite Meta recently joining 11 tech firms pledging to eliminate trafficking, Steve Galster, founder of Freeland, warned the announcement risks being "more lip service," as the company has belonged to the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online since 2018.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Illegal wildlife trade on Facebook: How endangered species are sold online
A shocking investigation reveals that Facebook has become a major hub for the illegal wildlife trade, with endangered monkeys, rhino horns, and dead pangolins being openly advertised and sold on the platform.
Endangered Pangolins, Rhino Horn and Monkeys Sold Openly on Facebook, Investigation Finds
A dead pangolin stripped of its protective scales, rhino horn marketed for traditional medicine and endangered monkeys advertised as pets are among thousands of illegal wildlife products being openly sold across Facebook, according to fresh investigations that have renewed scrutiny of Meta's ability to police its platforms. Conservation groups say the scale of the trade has reached alarming levels, accusing the social media giant of allowing tra…
Dead pangolins, live chimps and rhino horn — Facebook accused of hosting world's biggest wildlife black market
BANGKOK, June 29 — The ghostly white creature curled up on a weighing scale is almost unrecognisable in the Facebook post offering it for sale. Only closer inspection reveals it...
NGOs accuse Meta of hosting the world's largest illegal market for the sale of protected animals, favored by algorithms and monetization tools A creature of a white blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah…
Monkeys, a rhino horn and dead pangolins: Illegal wildlife trafficking rampant across social media platforms
The ghostly white creature curled up on a weighing scale is almost unrecognisable in the Facebook post offering it for sale. Only closer inspection reveals it to be a dead pangolin. The animal, one of the world’s most endangered and trafficked mammals, has been stripped of its scales and is being advertised by a Thai account selling “seasonal wild delicacies”. The post is one of dozens reviewed by AFP that illustrate what conservationists call r…
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