Facebook, the world’s largest social media outlet, recently reached 1.49 billion active monthly users, a number that continues to increase by roughly 13 percent each year and surpasses the users of WhatsApp (500 million), Twitter (284 million) and Instagram (200 million) combined. This proliferation of digital social networks has had an unmeasurably positive impact on society, from its expansion of international communication to the so-called “Facebook revolutions” that shocked the world in the early years of this decade.
However, widespread social media use has also created the necessity for nations to redefine their perception of “speech,” as social media exists in a realm that completely supersedes the notions of public and private life, and precedents regarding “free speech” cases in the past can hardly be applied to this entirely unique form of communication. As a result, institutions have adapted their policies to encompass their ideas of “fair” regulations on social media use, but judging by the violations of civil liberties that have ravaged the United States regarding online communications, substantial work needs to be done.
These violations have been especially prevalent at institutions of higher learning. For example, Craig Keefe, a nursing student at Central Lakes Community College in Brainerd, Minn., was recently expelled for posting “disturbing” content on his personal Facebook page, including a post that advocated drinking whiskey for “anger management” and a comment that contained the phrase “stupid bitch.” When Keefe met with school officials to discuss his conduct, school administrators refused to show Keefe the specific documents they had used to come to a verdict, and they failed to provide Keefe with a concrete reason for why he was being expelled.
Keefe’s lawsuit accuses the school administrators of conspiring to violate his constitutional rights to privacy, free speech and due process. This argument appears to be convincing, as Keefe was merely expressing his thoughts, and it does not seem Keefe directed any sort of insult or threat toward his college whatsoever. So, why was Keefe expelled? Why would a school skirt the boundaries of constitutional rights in order to expel one of its students?
By their nature, institutions of higher learning are incentivized to restrict the “free speech” rights of their students over the Internet, as negative or unfavorable posts can certainly tarnish their reputations. An Odyssey article purporting “relatable” information about university life, for example, often differs greatly from the viewpoints of administrators and may actually glorify activities, such as drinking culture, that are detrimental to the educational experience. Similarly, employers conducting background checks often scour individuals’ social media profiles to examine their online conduct, so regulating social media use may increase hiring rates and post-graduation salary, two categories that are vitally important for a university’s reputation.
Yet, while these arguments contain a degree of validity, it is discouraging to think the notion of reputation would take precedence over individual autonomy. While social media posts should be regulated like any other form of “speech” to prevent libel, threats and treason, there comes a point where regulations overreach their logical boundaries, where laws begin to protect institutions from valid criticisms rather than malicious intentions, where the silencing of opinions begins to infringe on individuals’ social mobility, such as in the case of Keefe, who was essentially denied of an education because he, like countless others, drinks alcohol.
Keefe’s case is notable in the clear absence of due process in his expulsion, but similar punishments are issued far too frequently by administrators at colleges across the nation. Tulsa University expelled an undergraduate for comments his husband made about the institution, Syracuse University expelled an education student for criticizing a racially charged comment and Texas Christian University expelled a student for expressing his beliefs on the Baltimore riots and radical Islam. While each of these cases differs in severity, they all have one thing in common: students were expressing their opinions, not acting maliciously toward their respective institutions whatsoever.
Most of these schools regulate social media use on a “you should know better” framework, such as the McIntire School of Commerce at the University, which has no unique regulations other than the vague ones provided by the Commonwealth, though it implores students to recognize that they “are responsible for what [they] write” and asserts the right to punish students based on the institution’s perception of whether a post is “responsible.”
Students are indeed responsible for what they write — and they should be aware of the impact a social media post can have on their career prospects — but institutions should not have such wide discretion to determine the degree to which a social media post is “responsible,” and they certainly should not have the power to expel someone over a non-malicious opinion. Written words can easily be taken out of context, and when the power to contextualize rests in the hands of an institution entirely concerned with its self-image, the consequences will never favor the student. Legislation needs to recognize the autonomy individuals have over their own lives — otherwise autonomy ceases to be a natural right, instead transitioning into a dangerous fiction perpetuated and controlled by misguided intentions.
Ryan Gorman is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at r.gorman@cavalierdaily.com.
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