Binance says it “clearly needs a new intern” who “understands global cultural taboos” after it came under fire for posting a racially-themed meme of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin on Saturday.
The Binance account shared the meme in which the character Peter Griffin is stopped while driving into the US by a toll booth attendant who decides if he can enter based on the whiteness of his skin.
Binance edited the meme to show Binance users in the ‘light-skinned’ category and users with 2-factor authentication in the ‘dark-skinned’ category. “You’re safeguarded; please proceed,” the caption read.
One user’s screenshot of the original post.
Read more: Big Brother surveillance dystopia is now reality at Binance
However, the post was deleted shortly after it was posted. One user described it as the “9/11 of Binance,” while others were confused by the messaging, with one user saying “I have no idea what their intention was.”
Hours later Binance issued an apology for the post. It said the meme “was intended to highlight Binance’s commitment to user safety and stringent security measures,” and placed the blame on an intern.
“We clearly need a new intern with the following qualities: Loves the Crypto community, Super talented in social media, Understands global cultural taboos,” read the post.
Binance co-founder, Yi He, claimed the intern thought it was a Binance user graph “covering all skin tones and advising everyone to turn on 2FA,” and that the meme “was talking about how people are currently pursuing a healthy tan.”
He said, “The social media team has recently been onboarded and lacks the corresponding cultural background. When they saw this MEME image in the community, they did not understand its meaning and posted it on X. This is our fault, and we will make sure to rectify this issue.”
The Binance apology then turned into a job hunt as Binance asked users to share their best work in the comments so that its team could shortlist potential new candidates.
