YouTube

==== Animal torture ====

From 2020 on, the issue of videos featuring animal cruelty on YouTube has started to attract increasing attention in the media. In late 2020, animal welfare charity ''Lady Freethinker'' identified 2,053 videos on YouTube in which they stated animals were "deliberately harmed for entertainment or were shown to be under severe psychological distress, physical pain or dead."<ref>{{cite news|title=
 YouTube must remove videos of animal cruelty, says charity|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/19/youtube-must-remove-videos-of-animal-cruelty-says-charity |work=The GuardianTimes |access-date=December 5, 2023|date=December 19, 2020}}</ref>

In 2021, ''Lady Freethinker'' filed a lawsuit accusing YouTube of a breach of contract in allowing a large number of videos on its site showing animal abuse and failing to remove them when notified. YouTube responded by stating that they had "expanded its policy on animal abuse videos" in 2021, and since the introduction of the new policy "removed hundreds of thousands of videos and terminated thousands of channels for violations."<ref>{{cite news|title=Monkeys killed in blenders by sadistic torture ring that films abuse to sell online |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/technology/youtube-sued-animal-abuse.html |access-date=December 4, 2023 |work=The New York Times|date=October 19, 2021}}</ref>

In 2022, Google defeated the ''Lady Freethinker'' lawsuit, with a judge ruling that YouTube was protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, that shields internet platforms from lawsuits based on content posted by their users.<ref>{{cite news|title=Google Defeats Lawsuit Decrying Animal Abuse Videos on YouTube|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-04/google-defeats-lawsuit-decrying-animal-abuse-videos-on-youtube |access-date=December 5, 2023 |work=The New York Times|date=August 4, 2022}}</ref>

In 2023, YouTube stated that animal abuse "has no place on their platforms, and they are working to remove content (of that nature)".<ref name="telegraph/monkey-torture-women-arrested">{{cite news |last1=Newey |first1=Sarah |title=Monkeys killed in blenders by sadistic torture ring that films abuse to sell online |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/20/monkey-torture-ring-three-women-arrested-britain-bbc/ |access-date=June 23, 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620211907/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/20/monkey-torture-ring-three-women-arrested-britain-bbc/ |archive-date=June 20, 2023}}</ref><ref name="bbc/Iot1dIWVS5">{{cite web |title=Hunting the monkey torturers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/Iot1dIWVS5/hunting-the-monkey-torturers |website=BBC News |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="express.co.uk/1503840">{{cite news |last1=Pritchard-Jones |first1=Oliver |title=YouTube hosts HUNDREDS of 'disgusting' animal cruelty videos |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1503840/youtube-news-baby-monkey-torture-animal-cruelty |access-date=June 23, 2023 |work=Daily Express |date=October 10, 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk/m001n32l">{{cite web |title=The Monkey Haters |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n32l |website=BBC Three |publisher=BBC |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk/w3ct5j1p">{{cite web |title=The monkey haters |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5j1p |website=The Documentary |publisher=BBC World Service |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="vice/custom-baby-monkey-torture-videos">{{cite web |last1=Geiger |first1=Gabriel |title=People Buy Custom Baby Monkey Torture Videos on World's Worst Forum |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvqgx/people-buy-custom-baby-monkey-torture-videos-on-worlds-worst-forum |website=Vice |access-date=June 23, 2023 |language=en |date=August 13, 2021}}</ref>