Staff Editorial: Between a Block and a Hard Place

OPINION

pages by emily zeller

staff editorial:

between a & a BLOCKhard place

As an organization that represents On Feb. 24 2021, a virtual assembly video for the students, Free State Journalism calls on delayed homecoming week was posted on Ryland all student and school organizations to Cummings’s YouTube channel. In the video, StuCo be transparent with their social media members performed skits that mocked Encore, an policies, especially related to how annual choir event, and social distancing guidelines. accounts deal with comments and blocking followers. Students found this insulting to the choir department,

On Aug. 16 2020, the @freestatefootball and more widely, ironic because homecoming was

Instagram account posted a team photo in which delayed due to a COVID-19 exposure. Students none of the players were wearing masks. When reached out to administration with concerns about students called out the team on social media for this and were later blocked. not following guidelines, students were blocked On April 13 2021, StuCo posted the list of prom from the account or restricted from commenting. court candidates on Instagram, two of whom were

Shortly after, @freestatefootball moved to a private involved with these previous interactions and had account, effectively allowing access to content to only been blocked. Within minutes, senior Drew Raney approved members. commented “Okay but how many of these people

On Nov. 17 2020, the @free_state_stuco are blocked? Alum Joe Zollner commented using

Instagram account posted a photo of a room of the same phrase moments later. Some prom court student council members. As of that date, we were members liked these comments and a comment that in the first hybrid model. It was a Tuesday, meaning read “#abolishstuco”. only students with the last names L-R were to attend Both comments were deleted, commenting was in-person. Four students in the photo were not disabled on all posts and anyone who had interacted scheduled to be in-person school on Tuesday Nov. with the comments was blocked by the StuCo 17. While it is possible administration allowed these account. Shortly after, Raney and some members students to come in, the students were not socially of the prom court received an email from Hayden, distanced within the classroom. which said in part “...using profanity, sending hate

The large number of people in the photo got messages, and liking or associating yourself with any the attention of other students. Senior Amelia of these messages is a violation of instagram and a

Lang responded to the post on her Instagram story, violation of the FS student handbook.” saying, “I didn’t know today’s hybrid was A-Z!” and There is not one succinct definition of hate

“It’s super disappointing to see our student leaders speech, but most boil it down to abuse or threats ignoring social distancing guidelines… repeatedly.” based in hate of a certain identity or marginalized

Others emailed assistant principal and activities group. Is Student Council an identity? A director Matt Renk, Principal Myron Graber and marginalized group? By deeming the comments

StuCo sponsor Katy Hayden with concerns about and posts criticizing their organization hate the lack of following guidelines. speech, StuCo trivializes and minimizes actual 16 Shortly after, Lang and others involved were blocked by the StuCo Instagram. descrimination that people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities and other groups face.

Our staff editorial reflects the general opinion of the Free State Journalism staff

Student organizations are unjustly restricting criticism and public input

None of the comments or posts mentioned contained curse words, slurs, personal insults or insults based on identity. No content violated Instagram’s rules and there are no rules outlined in the student handbook or in district policy for how student organizations handle comments or “likes” deemed inappropriate.

Raney requested examples of the specific comments that violated guidelines or were deemed hate speech. Hayden’s only reply read, “No. Sent from my iPhone.”

The football team publicly shares information on their website. On the other hand, Instagram is the main way StuCo communicates information. As of May 18, 2021, the StuCo page on the school’s website has no information other than “Follow Us on Instagram” and a link to their account.

Student organizations must consider the implications of putting all of their information on a conditional platform. Should “official” social media accounts for groups be limited to only followers who fully agree with those in it? For example, senior Lindsey Hefty said after she was blocked, she had to log in from another Instagram account to view essential information about school events.

Most students were eventually unblocked by StuCo, but that does not negate the points we have expressed. This situation alludes to a larger, nationwide discourse about how social media accounts of representatives should be managed.

A 2019 case against President Donald Trump ruled government officials could not block people or remove tweets without violating the first amendment. The ruling explained blocking people from an official social media account violates their rights to participate in a “designated public forum.”

At a high school level this may seem trivial, but this case makes a relevant point. It is unconstitutional to stifle the opinions of those you represent. It is harmful to create an environment where that is allowed or worse, normalized. Beyond high school, college student senate races are important, oftentimes setting or giving input in where and how student fees are spent as well as giving input and consent to policies affecting students. It is not good practice for high school student councils to train students that they shouldn’t share their concerns with elected representatives because there could be negative repercussions.

Free State Journalism has outlined our social media policies, which readers can view on the opposite page. We, as an organization that represents students and the school community, will only block those who make repeated threats or use actual hate speech against marginalized groups.

If an account is going to block people for criticizing their organization, it should, at the very least, be made clear to their followers that criticism of the group could lead to losing access to their platform. This way, followers can know which student groups truly allow an open forum, accept constructive criticism and represent the student body.