Report Reveals Facebook as Major Hub for Illegal Wildlife Trade Worldwide

A new report by international conservation groups exposes Facebook, owned by Meta, as a central platform facilitating one of the largest illegal wildlife trades globally. The study, conducted by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), analyzed over 21,000 advertisements featuring approximately 266,000 wildlife items offered for sale between April 2024 and March 2026, estimating the market value at around $66 million. About 75% of these ads were found on Facebook, which the report describes as the "primary public infrastructure" for the online wildlife trade.

The report highlights that 84% of the animals listed are protected under the international CITES treaty, with nearly half belonging to critically endangered species such as pangolins, civets, sea turtles, and clouded leopards. Researchers attribute the platform's success in enabling this trade to features like closed groups, anonymous posting, automated recommendation algorithms, and monetization programs for content creators. Notably, 76% of the cases were identified within Facebook groups, and 78% of the content was encountered without active searching, indicating active algorithmic promotion.

Investigators warn that some traders profit doubly by selling rare animals and earning advertising revenue through Facebook’s monetization tools, effectively receiving indirect subsidies for illegal activities. Russell Gray, lead researcher, described this as "indirect subsidization of criminal activity." Experts criticize the technology companies’ self-regulation as ineffective, calling for mandatory regulation and robust enforcement mechanisms. Simone Haysom, GI-TOC’s head of environmental crime, emphasized the failure of self-regulation and the urgent need for external oversight.

Meta has not responded to recent inquiries but previously stated its policies prohibit the sale of protected species and noted its membership since 2018 in a coalition aimed at eradicating online wildlife trafficking. The coalition reported removing over 63 million prohibited items between 2018 and 2025 but did not specify platform contributions. The report’s release follows a recent pledge by 11 major tech firms, including Meta, Google, and Amazon, to combat illegal wildlife trade using AI-based tools. However, researchers remain skeptical about the effectiveness of these commitments without independent monitoring and enforcement against traffickers.