Oh, the ironies in the universities.
A conservative student group at the University of Lincoln in the UK criticized their students’ union over a lack of free speech over criticism of an online magazine. In response, the students’ union shut down the group’s social media accounts, thus proving their point.
Conservative Society suspended from Twitter by SU after criticising their record on freedom of speech
The University of Lincoln Conservative Society has been forced to hand over control of their twitter account to the Students’ Union. It follows a tweet sharing a report which said the University of Lincoln had a bad record on freedom of speech.
Lincoln Uni Tories on Twitter
Due to a disciplinary matter this Twitter account is temporarily suspended until 1st May.
Lincoln Uni Tories on Twitter
Due to SU orders this Twitter account will no longer be active. We hope to return on 1st May. Sorry for any inconvenience.
A spokesman for the student group made this statement:
“On the 6th March 2017, the University of Lincoln Conservative Society, in compliance with a decision by the Student Union (SU) disciplinary panel, handed over control of all social media accounts to the University of Lincoln Students Union, with the accounts to be suspended until the 1st of May 2017.
“This decision was reached by the SU following an anonymous complaint over two tweets by the society account. The first, in relation to freedom of speech, linking an article from ‘Spiked’ and the second was in relation to an SU questionnaire that had to be completed before voting in recent SU elections…
“We feel the decision that was made is misguided and disproportionate, as the society was simply trying to raise the important issues of free speech and democracy, and the tweets in question have been taken out of context.
Here is part of a statement by the Students’ Union, also courtesy of The Linc:
“Freedom of speech is a fundamental value of the Students’ Union. The SU is built on a foundation where students can express opinions and ideas freely within the law.
“The Students’ Union is run by students for students. There are agreed policies in place – based on national guidance for charities – which protect students and aims to provide a safe environment in which complex issues can be discussed and debated.
University of Lincoln SU suspends ConservativeSoc social media after criticising freedom of speech
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