I’m an animal…. Get me out of here!

Danny Jones was crowned the King of ‘I’m a Celebrity - Get me out of here’ this year, after spending three weeks in the Australian jungle going through gruelling and bizarre challenges on ITV’s popular survival reality TV show.  10.1 million Brits lined up to watch the I’m a Celebrity season launch this year, and the show remained popular up to the finale.

But is ‘I’m a Celebrity’ so universally beloved? There seems to be a seedy underbelly growing Down Under, with the public expressing increasing concerns over the TV show’s treatment and depiction of animals. 

Animals, from insects through to crocodiles, snakes, fish, and rats, are frequently used on the show, and over its many seasons, animals have been crushed, eaten, confined to cramped spaces, and not allowed to leave situations that are clearly creating discomfort and anxiety. 

OFCOM, the UK broadcasting regulator, has received more than 60,000 complaints about ‘I’m a Celebrity’ over the past four years and to date has not taken decisive action . Animal protection charities like the RSPCA, PETA, and World Animal Protection have condemned the show because of its use of animals, and TV presenter Chris Packham has repeatedly written to the show’s presenters, Ant and Dec, calling on them to put an end to the show’s exploitation of animals for entertainment. The British Veterinary Association has also written to ITV on more than one occasion on behalf of veterinarians in the UK, expressing concern for the continued use of animals in trials and settings unfit for their welfare needs, and urging the show’s producers to step away from this cruel use of animals. It is clear the public cares deeply about the welfare of animals, and a large portion no longer want to see them harmed for entertainment purposes. 

OFCOM’s silence is deafening, and in light of a new law, likely to undermine their regulatory authority and cast doubt over their role. All broadcasters in the UK must comply with The OFCOM Broadcasting Code, but beyond the Code, OFCOM now has additional duties for online content under The Online Safety Act 2023.

The Online Safety Act focuses on mitigating and managing the risks of online harms caused by illegal content and activities and content that is harmful to children, including the need to remove such content online. OFCOM is responsible for ensuring compliance. 

Most notably, depictions of causing unnecessary suffering contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 is deemed a “priority offence” under the Online Safety Act, meaning that this content must be removed online by social media providers and search engines. Snakes, crocodiles, and other vertebrate animals used on I’m A Celebrity would be protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, but not insects. Therefore causing unnecessary suffering to these animals would be illegal. This should happen even if the suffering took place outside of England and Wales. Videos of animal cruelty content from the show that are being shared online could be caught by these provisions.

There are some different interpretations over whether the unnecessary suffering content needs to be live streamed as to whether it needs to be removed online or whether pre-recorded should also be removed; however, how the courts will interpret it remains to be seen. There is an argument that the viewing public are encouraging these offences, whether live streamed or pre-recorded, which is a component of the Online Safety Act.

Regardless, the unnecessary suffering offence was included in the Online Safety Act with the purpose of tackling the prevalence of animal abuse on social media, it is therefore wholly surprising that OFCOM, who is responsible for ensuring compliance with this very law, is turning a blind eye to this very issue on prime time TV.  OFCOM’s position is untenable, in one capacity they are responsible for sanctioning social media providers for not removing animal cruelty content, and at the same time they are doing nothing in the face of great animal suffering and public outrage on one of the UK’s most popular TV shows. 

It is now time to get the animals out of ‘I’m a Celebrity’.