RSPCA: Reports of animal cruelty on social media rise by 27% in 2025
The RSPCA has reported a 27% increase in animal cruelty cases shared on social media so far this year, highlighting ongoing concerns despite the introduction of new legislation.
Between January and May 2025, the charity received 133 reports of cruelty linked to online content, compared with 104 reports during the same period in 2024. Over the past six years, the RSPCA has recorded 2,600 reports of abuse shared on social platforms.
Facebook accounted for the highest number of reports with 1,526, followed by Instagram with 499 and TikTok with 221.
The rise comes as the Online Safety Act 2023, enforced by OfCom, requires social media companies to remove content that glorifies animal abuse by 17 March 2025. The law aims to protect users, especially children, from harmful material.
David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs at the RSPCA, said: “It’s incredibly worrying to see that reports made to us about cruelty on social media have been increasing and this highlights the progress that social media companies need to make to become compliant with the new law which makes it an offence to post content showing animal cruelty online.”
He added: “We’re very concerned that the use of social media has changed the landscape of abuse with videos of animal cruelty being shared for likes and kudos with this sort of content normalising – and even making light of – animal cruelty. What’s even more worrying is the level of cruelty that can be seen in these videos, particularly as so many young people are being exposed to graphic footage of animals being beaten or killed which they otherwise would never have seen.”
The RSPCA’s Kindness Index 2025 found nearly one in three people (30%) had witnessed cruelty online, with 46% of 18-24-year-olds reporting exposure to such content. Facebook remains the most common platform where users observed cruelty.
Examples of reported abuse include a wild rat drowned and filmed on Facebook, a woman pouring shampoo into a Koi pond, a man riding a small pony while it was whipped on Instagram, and a cat roughly thrown into a cage on TikTok.
The charity also expressed concern that some social media platforms have reduced moderators, potentially allowing harmful content to remain online longer.
Alongside the online increase, the RSPCA noted a 33% rise in cruelty reports during last summer, with 374 reports every day during the season.
The charity’s Summer Cruelty Campaign calls on the public to help prevent seasonal abuse.
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