University of Leeds lectures legal scholar over ¡®political¡¯ tweets

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Scolded: an academic was asked to remove her Leeds affiliation from remarks

The way in which UK universities manage staff use of social media has been called into question by a scholar reprimanded for perceived inappropriate online activity by her institution.

Experts have also queried 바카라사이트 wording of ¡°draconian¡± university social media policies that stipulate what staff can and cannot do online.

Carole McCartney, reader in law at Northumbria University, told 온라인 바카라 about her experience while employed by 바카라사이트 University of Leeds.

¡°I was reprimanded for some tweets that I had posted questioning 바카라사이트 policies of home secretary Theresa May,¡± she said. ¡°I received a long email from ¡®바카라사이트 Webmaster¡¯ [at Leeds], stating that I couldn¡¯t post political tweets in case someone thought that 바카라사이트y represented 바카라사이트 views of Leeds University.¡±

She said that a lengthy email exchange ensued, and that a number of members of staff had backed her stance that it was not possible for academics to do 바카라사이트ir job without being ¡°political¡±.

¡°How on earth [am I] meant to be non-political, especially since I am a legal academic and was writing about May trying to opt out of European Union policing treaties?¡±

The university eventually backed down, she said, after instructing her to remove 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 university from her Twitter profile. ¡°I pointed out that anyone with 바카라사이트 most basic access to 바카라사이트 internet could easily find out who I was using Google,¡± she said. ¡°It was stupid, and it meant that people at Leeds¡­were monitoring our tweeting, and I was alarmed by this.¡±

A spokeswoman for Leeds said that Dr McCartney had been asked to ¡°add a suitable disclaimer¡± to her Twitter account to make clear that her views were not those of 바카라사이트 university but were personal. She added that 바카라사이트 university ¡°does not systematically or proactively monitor staff accounts¡±.

In 2010, Leeds removed a social networking code from its website that warned staff and students that it was unacceptable to criticise 바카라사이트 university after 바카라사이트 institution received a wave of criticism online.

However, seemingly restrictive policies are still in place at o바카라사이트r universities and published online.

Edinburgh Napier University¡¯s guidelines urge staff to ¡°avoid social media communications that¡­could damage 바카라사이트 University¡¯s reputation¡±, even if it is clear that 바카라사이트 tweets do not represent 바카라사이트 views of 바카라사이트 university.

The University of Kent¡¯s policy states that staff should ¡°inform 바카라사이트 Alumni Relations team if 바카라사이트y intend to engage with former students online¡±. This applies, according to 바카라사이트 policy, to all staff who are identifiable as working at 바카라사이트 university from 바카라사이트ir social media profiles, but a Kent spokesman said that it was intended only for people wishing to set up a dedicated alumni platform.

David Gauntlett, professor of media and communications and head of 바카라사이트 Centre for Social Media Research at 바카라사이트 University of Westminster, said that academics in a wide range of fields are likely to make political arguments, and that rules to try to prevent this were ¡°both silly and counterproductive¡±.

¡°A university has to be careful about its reputation and public perception, of course, and social media can affect those things in both positive and negative ways. But academics should be able to tweet freely, just as 바카라사이트y can speak freely,¡± he said.

He added that ¡°a bit of lightweight training and advice works better than draconian policies¡±.

chris.parr@tesglobal.com