Binghamton University Hit With Cease and Desist for Censoring Criticism of Live-Animal Mascot Use
This morning, PETA sent a cease and desist letter to Binghamton University, calling on the school to stop deleting Facebook comments and blocking users criticizing the school’s recent decision to use a 6-month-old binturong named Bing as a mascot. PETA—which sent the letter on behalf of the group and Evan Oakley, an apparently blocked supporter—notes that such censorship amounts to a violation of free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Over the past month, the comments made by PETA supporters and others expressing concern for the welfare of the binturong, an animal red-listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, have reportedly been deleted. In addition, Oakley has seemingly been blocked from even viewing the page in response to his comments highlighting the distress that forcing the naturally solitary animal into public encounters with rowdy crowds on campus could cause.
PETA points out that because the publicly funded institution’s Facebook page constitutes a public forum, censoring such posts amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint-based discrimination. The group is calling on the university to immediately cease deleting such comments and to restore Oakley’s access to its Facebook page.
“Binghamton University has apparently resorted to silencing critics and stifling debate over its harmful decision to parade a vulnerable baby animal around at raucous school events,” says PETA Foundation Director of Litigation Asher Smith. “PETA will consider legal action to affirm the public’s First Amendment right to speak out against the exploitation of a sensitive animal as a prop.”
PETA notes that Bing is supplied to the school by notorious Harpursville-based roadside zoo Animal Adventure Park—which is known for exploiting a now-deceased giraffe named April as a breeding machine and livestreaming the births of her babies before tearing away her calves and shipping them to other sleazy roadside zoos. The facility has racked up a slew of federal Animal Welfare Act violations, including repeatedly failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care, failing to maintain enclosures in good repair, and endangering the public and animals by allowing unsupervised animal feedings.
PETA’s letter follows the group’s legal victory in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., which recently confirmed that the National Institutes of Health violated PETA’s First Amendment rights by filtering social media comments challenging the agency’s cruel and worthless tests on animals.
PETA encourages supporters who posted on Binghamton University’s official Facebook page to contact the group immediately if their comments have been deleted or if they have been blocked from viewing the page.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
