Animal Rights Activists as Terrorists: The Impact of Surveillance on the Animal Rights Movement

• In Event: Roundtable: Understanding the Social Impacts of Surveillance Technology

Abstract

While the government has always used its authority to quell political groups deemed as subversive, recent activity by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) against animal rights advocates have suggested an unprecedented effort in surveilling and policing these groups. Aided by the USA PATRIOT Act and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), federal and local police agencies have come to see animal rights groups as terrorists even though no deaths have been attributed to these movements in the United States. The inflammatory rhetoric inherent in AETA combined with the heightened surveillance of animal rights organizations has alienated activists. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact surveillance has had on the animal rights movement.

Author

• Cassandra Boyer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas