Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage social media companies to tackle animal abuse content online.

Animal abuse content is horrific, and social media companies must do more to tackle it.

Social media platforms and search services have duties to tackle animal abuse content and implement safety-by-design features under the Online Safety Act.

Ofcom – the independent regulator - has published recommendations for how providers should tackle such content under their ‘illegal content duties’.

These duties took effect on 17 March and Ofcom have strong enforcement powers to hold companies accountable for failing to meet their obligations.