Social media policy regarding derogatory and threatening posts

Recently, the personal expression on private social media accounts has resulted in disciplinary action for some of the nation’s college students.

Students have been expelled for posting derogatory photos and comments in response to the national anthem protests as well as for posting racially charged images and captions, which circulated through Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A student from Belmont University in Nashville was expelled for sharing a photo of the Philadelphia Eagles raising their fists during the national anthem with a caption that read “every one of [the players]” needed “a bullet in their head” and went on to state “If you don’t like this country, get the hell out.”

A student from Prairie View A&M University left campus after her Snapchat post went viral. She was wearing black tape on her face. The caption read, “When you’re just tryna fit in at your HBCU [Historically Black College and University].” The post caused an outrage on campus. She wrote a letter of apology and said that she meant her post as a joke and not as racism.

Hate speech is a verbal and nonverbal expression that can come in the form of words, symbols or images. Social media posts that include these forms can fall into the category of hate speech.

“What is hate speech? You’ll get different answers depending on who you talk to,” said Interim Dean of Students David Rachita. “The big question is at what level, if any, is hate speech protected speech?”

Rachita recalled that years ago, many colleges created hate speech codes. Many argued it was unconstitutional to impose them.

“UHCL and the UH System does not have a speech code in place,” Rachita said. “Inappropriate posts deemed as hate speech would fall under UHCL’s Student Code of Conduct more likely as a disruption and/or mental harm issue.”

UHCL’s Student Code of Conduct is provided through the Dean of Students Office. It includes policies and guidelines set forth by UHCL.

The Student Code of Conduct is interpreted by either the Dean of Students or the Student Life Council – UHCL’s disciplinary hearing panel. The student may choose between the two as his or her disciplinary judge.

The UH System provides support with interpreting the code of conduct through the Office of the General Counsel.

“I often seek the guidance of the UH Legal Counsel,” said Rachita when commenting on the steps of taking any disciplinary action against a student.

The University of Houston-Clear Lake has not received any reports of problems with students posting racist or threatening comments on social media.

The Office of Intercultural Student Services, which has university-hosted social media pages where students can publicly post, monitors the content and has not had an issue with inappropriate posts to date.

“There hasn’t been anything that we’ve had to step in and look at,” said Linda Contreras Bullock, assistant dean of student diversity.

Bullock said that while they have not had any issues, they are constantly aware of the red flags that could lead to trouble.

“Inappropriate comments regarding gender, racial/ethnic or other derogatory comments to name a few would be a red flag for us,” Bullock said.

She added that she constantly warns her students to be cautious of what they post on social media.

“Realize how many people see it and the backlash that can happen,” Bullock said. “Employers are looking at your social media pages and what you think you did innocently two years ago is still there.”

UHCL’s Office of Communications is the university’s official media contact.

“UHCL community members may contact socialmedia@uhcl.edu if they have questions or concerns about posts on university social media pages,” said Karen Barbier, associate director for communications media relations.

The UH System has a social media policy in place that applies to students enrolled at UHCL. The policy emphasizes the commitment “to fostering an educational environment that allows for freedom of speech and expression in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” The policy further states that system universities will not tolerate activity or posts on any official university social media sites that lose First Amendment protection.

“Comments that are unlawful, defamatory or obscene would be inappropriate,” Barbier said. “As stated in the UH System Social Media Policy, the university reserves the right to remove posts that are unlawful, defamatory or obscene on official university sites and may also refer social media activity that doesn’t meet a particular platform’s guidelines to the applicable social media platform and/or appropriate authorities.”