Anonymous on Campus?

Topic:

     This past year has seen a rise in racially related incidents and protests on college campuses.  Popular apps like Yik Yak and Yeti (which allow anonymous users to post to a geo-location restricted feed such as a college campus) have been used to make racist or threatening posts.  A survey of college officials in April of 2015 showed that a majority of those responding monitored the public feeds of such anonymous apps.

Blog:

            Geo-restricted, anonymous apps such as Yik Yak and Yeti have become popular on college campuses because they provide a space for students to share their experiences and opinions with fellow students, free of social dynamics that may otherwise inhibit expression. Along with being a place to share humor and gossip, these apps have been used to make threats and racist, sexist, or otherwise dangerous or offensive posts. Simultaneously, protests and racist speech have been occurring frequently on college campuses, prompting many college administrators to monitor student social media feeds, and even take action to determine the student’s identity if a concerning post is found. This monitoring and identity seeking takes place in the name of safety, but raises concerns about student's privacy and right to free speech.

Reasons for Monitoring

            Monitoring of student social media sites of all kinds has become one way for administrators to try to prevent bombings, shootings, and racist or sexist incidents from occurring on college campuses. This method has become common practice because perpetrators have been known to post hints or plans of an attack on social media, and anonymous platforms in particular have allowed students to harass and degrade others without consequences. Even if posts don’t pose a direct threat, they can be hateful and directed at an individual or group of people, which can cause mental health problems and social anxiety for students on campus, so administrators have felt pressure to try to protect their students. Some students have even requested that their peers be outed and disciplined for posts made about them, such as in a case brought by five female students and two feminist groups against the University of Mary, Washington and the school’s president, because feminist students had been harassed and received threats of sexual violence by fellow students on Yik Yak, but the students did not think administrators responded correctly.

Privacy Concerns Around Monitoring Anonymous Student Media

            Active, ongoing monitoring of anonymous student social media by school administrators can be viewed as an invasion of privacy because administrators are conducting a form of mass surveillance, especially if the school is state funded. Anonymous posts may still contain personally identifiable information, such as specific classes a student is in or the student’s residence hall, which could lead to their identity being discovered. It is also possible that a student could be identified and targeted online by an anonymous student, so only the victim would be revealed to administrators. If a student makes an anonymous post on social media and is then outed by administration they may be judged by their professors, peers, and potential employers. This outing may even go so far as to violate FERPA, if private information about a student is distributed without permission from the student.

Deliberate attempts by administrators to determine the identity of a student that has posted anonymously may also be considered a violation of the First Amendment, especially if the school is run by the state. If students know their administration will seek to determine their identity for any posts deemed inappropriate by the administration, then their free speech will be limited and they will have to self-censor. Censoring of hate speech is good, but students may  have to avoid posting opinions that cast administrators, professors, and schools as a whole in a negative light. Attempts by administrators to determine who made a post by requesting information from the app may violate a student's privacy because it attempts to take away their anonymity, and could lead to the student being sanctioned. If administrators attempt to sanction a student for speech, even unpopular speech, that doesn’t directly threaten anyone or break the student code of conduct, they are violating the First Amendment.

Current Laws Regulating Student Free Speech, Anonymous App Use and Monitoring

            According to the National Association of College and University Attorneys, “public institutions may only prohibit and discipline speech falling in those categories outside the protection of the First Amendment, such as “fighting words,” [10] speech inciting imminent lawless action [11], “true threats,” [12] unlawful harassment [13], obscenity, and defamation.” Based on a number of different court cases, student speech on and off campus is protected by the First Amendment. It is important to note that private schools have more power to restrict student speech on campus and take disciplinary action than public schools do, so long as rules are outlined in their student code of conduct. There is no law regulating administrators monitoring, or addressing student speech if no disciplinary action is taken that would violate the student’s First Amendment rights.
            In Utah, there is a law that doesn’t allow colleges and universities to ask students for their social media account information, but allows monitoring of the accounts. This law was created to respond to the athletics department at Utah State University requiring students to give administrators and a third-party monitoring company their usernames and passwords so the accounts could be directly monitored. USU also stopped active monitoring after finding that it was taking up a lot of their staff’s time. Now, instead of monitoring, the USU athletics department has a class to teach athletes about responsible social media use.

My Opinion

I do not think college administrators should actively monitor public student social media feeds. I think it’s the duty of administrators to educate students, not to monitor their social media activity. To me it is a waste of time and money, and counts as surveillance. While I recognize that ensuring student safety is one facet of a school administrator's job, I think they should approach safety through educating students, encouraging respectful discourse, and deferring to experts. If a problematic post is brought to an administrator’s attention, I think they should work with the Title IX Office and/or university police to address the issue because those departments have the training to recognize and respond appropriately to potential threats or illegal activity. While I am okay with administrators asking students to take down posts that are offensive but not threatening or illegal once, I don’t think they should seek to determine student’s identities unless a post is brought to their attention that presents clear danger, and law enforcement is involved.