Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has received information on the decision by Facebook and Twitter to ban social media platforms financed by Safari Club International on the grounds that they were seeking to influence the outcome of his Department’s consultation on controls on the import and export of hunting trophies; whether he plans to take steps to ensure that that consultation process has not been compromised; and if he will make a statement.
My department is aware of the action taken by some social media platforms relating to the spread of misinformation in respect to trophy hunting. Trophy hunting is a topic that provokes strong views, reflected by the fact we received a large number of responses from members of the public and stakeholders. Our consultation and call for evidence process is robust and Defra follows best practice guidelines. We have considered all views expressed and evidence submitted in response to the consultation and call for evidence and we have no reason to suspect the process has been compromised. We will respond to the consultation and outline the next steps as soon as possible.