Key Facts and Figures

• Social media use has grown rapidly in Asia, a huge market for illegal wildlife. China’s WeChat has 1.2B users, or more than 85% of China’s smartphone users. Facebook, which is WeChat's prime competitor in the region, has 400 million users across Asia, making it Facebook's largest market.

• In a 2016 investigation, the Wildlife Justice Commission, an ACCO member, identified 51 Vietnamese traffickers who trafficked more than $53 million dollars-worth of ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts. Up to a third of this trafficking took place online, including on Facebook and other platforms.

• The Project to End Great Ape Slavery, an ACCO member, estimates more than half the global trade in Apes occurs on social media, with Facebook and Instagram accounts selling young apes to collectors mainly located in the Gulf.

• The Cheetah Conservation Fund, an ACCO member, reports that upwards of 70% of the illegal trade in cheetahs online takes place on Instagram. An ACCO investigator identified more than 200 Instagram accounts moving roughly 200 live cheetahs a year.

• ACCO member Lady Freethinker is tracking some 50 Facebook Groups with a combined membership of hundreds of thousands of members that post dog-fighting content, including live-streamed fights and fighting dogs for sale.