Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the police and (b) animal welfare stakeholders on the actions of people involved in catapult groups on social media.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The use of catapults against animals, and the sharing of disturbing imagery associated with such use on social media, is an issue that has been relayed to my officials by certain local police forces and the National Wildlife Crime Unit. I am informed a new national group has recently been created to address the catapulting of wildlife, focusing on education, prevention, detection and justice. Officers from Essex Police and the Metropolitan Police are leading the group, named Operation Lakeshot, and they are working in partnership with the RSPCA and Nature Watch.
The government takes wildlife crime seriously and it is a matter of concern. Under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure, or inflict harm on wildlife. Furthermore, the Online Safety Act 2023 will also require social media firms to take action to tackle content that results in the unnecessary suffering of animals, or that encourages activity that causes the unnecessary suffering of an animal. This includes removing such content.
Written Evidence Mar. 05 2024
Inquiry: Police and Crime Commissioners: 10 years onFound: PPC0013 - Police and Crime Commissioners: 10 years on Home Office Written Evidence
Dec. 13 2011
Source Page: Without fear or favour: a review of police relationships. 71 p.Found: Without fear or favour: a review of police relationships. 71 p.
Written Evidence Feb. 21 2024
Inquiry: FraudFound: age, particularly due to being increasingly targeted on social media and encrypted messaging apps
Written Evidence Mar. 20 2024
Inquiry: Defending DemocracyFound: Elections - safer social media for candidates and others The National Police Chiefs’ Council, the
Ban 'fact checking' by social media companies
- 44 Signatures
(Estimated Final Signatures: 62 - 1 added in the past 24hrs)
We want social media companies to stop 'fact checking' social media posts. We believe fact checking by social media companies can be used to police what people read and watch based on political opinion, and not facts.
Found: We think fact checking has no place on social media, and want the Government to force social media companies
Written Evidence Apr. 17 2024
Inquiry: FraudFound: Should social media platforms be doing more to protect consumers from fraud occurring on their sites
Written Evidence Feb. 21 2024
Inquiry: FraudFound: FRA0035 - Fraud Greater Manchester Office for Police Crime Commissioner Written Evidence
Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: Angiolini InquiryFound: That a serving police officer should have committed such horrendous crimes by exploiting his occupation
Apr. 24 2024
Source Page: Defra: workforce management information March 2024Found: AuthorityExecutive Non-Departmental Public BodyCivil Nuclear Police AuthorityDepartment for Energy Security