It is more and more common to see pictures and videos of animal abuse circulating on the web.
Thanks to OIPA’s “STOP VIRAL ANIMAL CRUELTY” project, every time you see videos or pictures of animal abuse online, you will be able to report it by filling out the appropriate online form (that can be found at the bottom of this page) and demanding its removal.
OIPA, in collaboration with the specialized company “Tutela Digitale” (Digital Protection), will examine reported pictures and videos in order to launch a procedure aiming at an attempt to remove the content from the web.
In case of a picture or video of animal abuse circulating online, it is essential not to share such contents, as their dissemination would give its author exactly what it is looking for: visibility, in addition to increasing the risk of emulation.
It is important to remember that on top of reporting the link to OIPA, it is necessary, in order to trace back to the authors of the abuse, and proceed with a complaint to the Legal Authorities.
Is the reported content going to be removed?
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the content is going to be removed, but what we can assure is that all tools available are going to be activated in the 48h following your report by a team of experts specialized in deleting inappropriate contents from the web. A potential negative outcome of the removal procedure does not depend neither on OIPA nor on Tutela Digitale, but rather on management policies of certain websites/social networks/ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Is my report anonymous?
Yes, it is enough to provide your email address, which is not going to be disclosed to third parties.
What should I do in case you cannot intervene?
In addition to reporting the online content to OIPA, that is going to start a removal procedure, it is necessary to file a complaint to the Legal Authorities in order to trace back to the authors of the abuse. This can be done through a written report to the local authorities of your country.
In the jungle of a web world, imposing a specific and unique regulation on the control of publications (videos, pictures, etc…) has become a necessity. Most of all, practical, immediate and accessible instruments need to be created to report and delete disseminations that integrate crimes against animals (among the most common cases are reported: killing, abuse, illegal traffic of animals and this consequently provokes damage to the user)
Why is it important to stop the disclosure of videos, pictures, comments, pages that represent an illicit treatment of animals?
The main danger is emulation. It has been established that men learn from what they see and we often reproduce behaviors seen in our own kind…
And most importantly, the animal has to be protected as a sentient being
Attention! Keeping in mind what has been said above, some considerations on the utility, in specific cases, of the disclosure of illicit contents have to be made. Illicit contents can help to trace back to the abusers and therefore allow an appropriate criminal prosecution or draw people’s attention to a problem (for example, videos showing abuse in farms)
In conclusion, it is necessary, as a form of prevention and respect for other animals, to create practical and fast means to report illicit content on the web, avoid harmful disclosure, and at the same time let the authorities intervene.
What can a single user, who found a video, picture or page showing animal abuse, do?
Report to the provider or manager of the website to ask for a removal of the abusive content. Youtube has set up the possibility for users to report animal abuse directly, showing interest for the problem.
OIPA, in collaboration with “Tutela Digitale” (Digital Protection), aims at the removal of content showing animal abuse and at guaranteeing the possibility, depending on the case, to proceed concretely with a report to the authorities.
Step 1. The user writes an email to OIPA, reporting a video, page, picture or comment that could show abusive treatment of animals
Step 2. OIPA’s service evaluates the received report, its “relevance” and truthfulness to forward it to “Tutela Digitale”
Step 3. “Tutela Digitale” will provide for a definitive cancellation from the web, by producing a certificate that would demonstrate the existence of illicit disclosure. The content will be removed and it will be possible to proceed with a report to the authorities.
The utility of our project
- To eliminate harmful disclosure to avoid acts of emulation and instrumentalization
- To produce proof to be transmitted to the competent authorities
- Obtain a statistics on the websites where illicit content circulates the most
