The ghostly white creature curled up on a scale is almost unrecognizable in the Facebook post offering it for sale. Only closer inspection reveals that it is a dead pangolin.
The animal, one of the most endangered and trafficked mammals in the world, has been stripped of its scales and is being advertised by a Thai account selling “seasonal wild delicacies.”
The post is one of dozens reviewed by AFP illustrating what conservationists call rampant illegal wildlife trafficking on social media platforms, particularly those owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
A multi-NGO report released Monday accuses Meta of hosting the “world’s largest illegal wildlife trade market” and of effectively encouraging the trade by sharing advertising revenue with users and allowing them subscription models.
The report follows recent research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), which warned that Facebook is now “the central public infrastructure through which online wildlife trafficking is concentrated, discovered and expanded.”
Meta refused to answer questions from AFPand pointed to policies that restrict the sale of endangered species on their platforms.
But conservationists say those policies have done little to prevent Meta platforms from being used for the illegal wildlife trade.
GI-TOC’s investigation found more than 20,000 advertisements for more than 260,000 wildlife products on social media platforms between April 2024 and March 2026.
Nearly three-quarters were on Facebook, and many remained active even after being reported, said Russell Gray, a data scientist and ecologist who co-authored the April GI-TOC report.
“Even the unredacted accounts and groups we publicly reported on in the report are still alive and active,” he said. AFP.
‘Hallucinatory’
Conservationists and wildlife experts said that was common.
“Not once did I receive a response or see any action being taken,” said Tom Taylor, chief operating officer of the Friends of Wildlife Foundation Thailand.
“Accounts that openly violate the law must be closed and investigations launched into the criminal activities behind them.”
Preservationists argue that Meta not only fails to remove content that violates its policies, but may actually encourage it by allowing popular accounts to monetize content through ad revenue and subscription models.
“This content monetization that Facebook and Instagram are driving is actually incentivizing people to commit illegal acts,” said Daniel Stiles, an independent wildlife trafficking researcher.
“The more interaction and engagement they get on their account, the more money they can earn,” added Stiles, co-author of the report published Monday by NGOs including Freeland, Education for Nature Vietnam and the International Wildlife Trust.
Meta does not make public which accounts are in its content monetization programs.
But those enrolled in its subscription program are publicly identifiable and include an account apparently in Laos that purports to show poaching of wildlife, including pangolins.
“How Meta can allow that is mind-boggling,” Stiles said.
‘Pay lip service’
Animal and wildlife products are offered on meta-platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, research shows.
But traffickers are also increasingly using other platforms, including TikTok and Snapchat, popular due to their disappearing posting settings.
AFP Examples were reviewed offering everything from chimpanzees intended as pets to rhino horns for traditional medicine and pangolins for consumption.
Some of the content is indirect: sellers often post images of animals or pieces for sale without any price or explanation. Interested commenters are asked to message them directly.
But much of the content is clear, including a public Facebook account offering dead pangolins, monitor lizards and other protected wildlife for consumption in Thailand.
The algorithmic nature of social media platforms means that users who engage with wildlife trafficking accounts are offered more.
After reviewing just a handful of public accounts advertising the illegal wildlife trade, a AFP The journalist’s Facebook account began routinely showing posts selling wildlife and parts of endangered animals.
Meta was among 11 technology companies that announced this month that they would work to eliminate wildlife trafficking on their sites.
But the company has been a member of the Coalition to End Online Wildlife Trafficking since 2018 and the problem has continued to grow, said Steve Galster, founder of Freeland.
He warned the latest announcement risked being “more talk”.
“Until Meta is forced to get rid of the illegal wildlife trade on its platforms and prove that it is not profiting from it, the online wildlife trade will only get worse.”
