Animal Rights
In 2026, the international animal rights nonprofit Lady Freethinker released Cruelty for Clicks, a documentary that unveiled a dark truth hiding in plain sight: animal abuse disguised as social media "content" going viral.
What Cruelty for Clicks revealed about "rescue" content and social algorithms
The science behind social media algorithms might seem complex, but in reality, all that it takes to boost a post's popularity is interaction. Whether it is a hate comment, a sincere like, or a concerned share, the mere action of engaging with a post makes the algorithm think said content might be of interest to another user. Therefore, it keeps showing up on different people's feeds until the interaction eventually stops.
So how do animal abusers use this to their advantage? One of the most well-disguised forms of online animal cruelty is fake rescue content. Because people genuinely helping animals in peril is a popular subject online, these abusers have taken this concept to the cruelest of levels. Said abusers have been reported to deliberately mistreat, hurt, and abuse animals to then pretend to help them for views, some even going as far as requesting money for "food" or "medical treatment."
A recent case that brought this modus operandi to light involved a 27-year-old Virginia man who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Said man drugged and beat cats to then ask for money online, all under the guise of saving sick animals. While these abusers rarely serve any prison time, this case delivered justice to overlooked animals that are often failed by legal systems.
What cruelty as "entertainment" looks like
The other side of the coin isn't any less disturbing. Aside from fake rescue content and straightforward social media cruelty illustrated by heartbreaking cases like Wang Wang's (a dog who was filmed being beaten and burned to death while trying to save her puppies), there is another format that has gained disturbing popularity: animal torture forums.
In these servers, lurking in the deepest corners of the web, people pay to consume videos of animals like cats, monkeys, and puppies being tortured. These forums and chat rooms are particularly popular in countries like China, where large cat torture forums exist and operate with absolute impunity.
As seen in cases like Wang Wang's, there is no real consequence for actions like these in China, because their government lacks basic animal protection laws – unlike countries like the United States, where cruelty sentences have seen an increase and animal protection laws are stronger than its Eastern counterpart. Sadly, although the source of these groups can be traced back to China, they have gained international engagement.
How to report online animal cruelty
According to End Cruelty Online, online animal abuse videos receive up to 100 billion views every year; most of them due to people unknowingly engaging with said content, either under the belief it's real rescue content or by being tricked into it to boost its visibility.
End Cruelty Online recommends avoiding engagement completely to prevent from contributing to the virality of this horrific content, and to immediately report animal cruelty when you see it. For instance, a user with comments of concern or horror might think they're helping, while they're accidentally feeding the alrogithm. This is why going straight to reporting is recommended by both End Cruelty Online and The Animal Legal Defense Fund, who has put together the following action points for users encountering online animal cruelty:
- Download the evidence: not only the entire video file, but the who (poster), what (source material with metadata), when (date and time), and where (social media platform and profile).
- Report your findings to your local law enforcement agency.
- With the information provided and having you as a witness, law enforcement will now have probable cause to launch a formal investigation and gain access to the accused's devices.
How to recognize fake rescue content
To spot fake rescue content, apply the A.R.C. test by evaluating three core areas: the authenticity of the source to rule out unverified or repetitive creators, a reality check of the scene to identify unnatural animal behaviors or highly improbable setups, and the creation style to catch over-produced editing or suspicious delays in helping the animal.
If you suspect any content you've come across might be a facade for animal cruelty, please be sure to follow the steps above. Sadly, simply reporting the content within a specific platform will likely not have any consequences, and might even motivate the poster to find alternative platforms or ways to keep their horrific content online.
#ReportIt2EndIt
Works Cited
Animal Legal Defense Fund. (n.d.). What to do if you witness animal cruelty online. https://aldf.org/article/what-to-do-if-you-witness-animal-cruelty-online/
Chakales, S., & Gartner, J. (2026, September 24). ‘We were going to get this guy’: Man convicted of animal abuse after receiving tips from around the world. WDBJ7. https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/09/24/we-were-going-get-this-guy-man-convicted-animal-abuse-after-receiving-tips-around-world/
Murray, K. IMDb. (2026n.d.). Cruelty for clicks. Retrieved from IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt43634272/
Smith, T., & Crawford, A. (2025, August 3). BBC finds electrocuted, drowned and starved cats in online torture groups. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yp9w5kyw7o
Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition. (n.d.). Fake rescue content. https://www.endcrueltyonline.com/fake-rescue
Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition. (n.d.). Report It! Week & SMACC 101. https://www.endcrueltyonline.com/report-it-week
