Students block censorship efforts

Rachel Miranda

The Signal

Late November Sam Houston State University (SHSU) dropped its proposed social-media policy that would have allowed university administrators editing privileges to all campus-related online accounts.

After outcries from students poured in protesting the censorship on grounds of violation of students’ right to privacy and free speech, the university decided to put an end to the issue by ceasing its work with the current policy.

“As a frequent Twitter user, I know we become anxious when we can’t access,” said Candice Lamb, a SHSU undergrad. “Partly because we feel like we’re missing out on something. With instant access to news, we don’t miss much. With censorship comes the limits to outlets we have available to express creativity, social interaction and ourselves. We, as citizens, have the right to free speech and I believe we’re all grown here; we know what’s appropriate for a campus-related social network and what is not. Administrators being able to have full access to usernames and passwords seems a bit far-fetched if you ask me.”

Although the policy was rescinded, the incident raises questions on how much access college administrators and professors should have to students’ Facebook and Twitter sites.

Some colleges encourage its professors to interact with students via social networks. Some universities’ administrators closely monitor students’ Twitter and Facebook account.

For instance, the University of Maryland (UMD) “may be actively monitoring and regulating the speech of the members of its football team,” asserts the Washington Post.

“Social media is a part of our world, it’s a part of our life and probably the majority of contemporary students are interacting in that way, and we need to go to the student where he or she is,” said David Rachita, interim dean of students. “So if that’s Facebook, that’s Facebook. If it’s Twitter, it’s Twitter. So the pros are; we have direct access, it really does lend itself for open dialogue, sharing ideas and thoughts, not just between one or two people but even with a group of people. But the con is, it’s open dialogue; that’s the pro and con.

“If you’re opening yourself up to that free, open access that Facebook is, then you’re going to need to be ready to tolerate some of the messages that are shared and be open to ways of expressing ones self that maybe you don’t appreciate. Also, as a faculty or staff member, we have a responsibility and obligation to protect our students and our university. We could be put in an uncomfortable position by an inappropriate or dangerous comment made by a student, and whether or not you are interfering with that person’s private communication or private life, to a certain extent you have a duty of care.”

The SHSU incident has also raised concerns of social media censorship becoming a reality on other university campuses.

“I would agree that somebody in a security-like position has to have some kind of access to campus-related online accounts; in case there is an emergency or unforeseen circumstances where somebody is threatening another student with their life or their health,” Rachita said. “Do I think it’s a good idea that any of us have full access to campus-related online accounts, not at all. That sounds like a bad, dangerous idea to me.”

Here at UHCL, the university does not have any social-media policies nor does the university practice any censorship on its campus network.

“I don’t think the university would ever consider a social-media policy that would be unreasonably restrictive,” Rachita said. “If anything, if there isn’t a policy already stating that if such and such information resides on our server we maintain the right to edit as needed, that would probably be the only policy I would see happening.”

UHCL does host spam-filtering software for all incoming email and web-filtering software, both of which are responsible for detecting and isolating suspected malware.

“A significant and growing number of university desktop machines were being compromised by malware, which posed a security threat to all university information resources through our shared network resource,” said Margaret Lampton, director of information security and administration. “Malware was also reducing individuals’ productivity in that once their machines were infected, they were without access until the malware was removed and the desktop re-imaged. This software is a valuable tool in our continued effort to prevent security threats to our shared campus network.”

Since UHCL installed its most recent Web security system, students using campus computers do not have full access to information on the Internet. This can be problematic, especially for students who rely on university computers to conduct research.

“Here in the newsroom, we’ve been having trouble accessing websites for research and fact checking, as well as a site to download non-copyrighted music for our videos and slideshows,” said Ashley Smith, The Signal editor. “Sometimes we even have trouble accessing our own site, the admin side of The Signal WordPress site. The UCT people are always very helpful, but there’s a process in place that delays us from having immediate access.

“Whenever a site is blocked, we have to send an email and place a written request to UCT to be allowed access to specific websites, and must provide url address. The email address for the Help Desk is SupportCenter@uhcl.edu. UCT will determine if the website poses a threat to the university’s network security. If the website is deemed safe, UHCL computers will be allowed to access it. We, The Signal staff, are wondering if we are the only ones having these issues, or if other students, faculty and staff are experiencing the same issues, so we’ve created a survey.”

For more information about the survey, click here.