Update from Seun and Ewan: House of Lords and online spaces

Tuesday 27-04-2021 - 15:11
Seun and ewan

We were recently invited to attend a roundtable discussion held by a House of Lords Select Committee on the topic of “online freedom of expression”. This event was a chance for students to present evidence on a range of questions relating mostly to social media and how it is and ought to be used.

There has been a lack of interest in specifically online spaces where so many of our students have faced hate and discrimination from those who hide behind the safety of a screen with little repercussion. Sadly, this has only been amplified by the hyper online world we have found ourselves in throughout the pandemic. 

To see the House of Lords displaying interest into the role which online spaces play as a medium for potentially healthy debate, but also the spread of misinformation and discrimination, was therefore a breath of fresh air. Each group explored questions from whether online freedom of expression is actually at threat, to how online behaviour can be improved, and whether social media platforms have become too powerful and ought to be regulated. 

As expected, much of the discussion was prefaced with the idea of “cancel culture”, that individuals are being “cancelled” for expressing views that specific groups don’t agree with and are attempting to shut down. The roundtable was a fruitful place for challenging this notion, asking who exactly is being “cancelled” and what this actually means.  

What does a “cancelled” person look like?  

Most examples pointed to high profile individuals who have suffered very little material damage as a result of being “cancelled”. 

It was therefore refreshing to see agreement amongst peers in the House of Lords that those with power and influence are often much less likely to see any material repercussions for their online behaviour. One aspect of this issue is the role that Universities and employers play in establishing standards for the online behaviour of their students and employees irrespective of their position within the institution. We know that reporting mechanisms can be extremely ineffective at dealing with legitimately hateful social media posts, and social media platforms very rarely act upon their “community standards”.  

This also brings up the interesting question of whether these platforms ought to be regulated. Our hunch is that they should, but that doesn’t stop further questions arising such as who the regulators are and what their standards should be. At some level, there will be an amount of subjectivity about what passes as “freedom of expression” and what is genuinely hateful – a lot of philosophical discussion with few concrete answers. 

All in all, the roundtable was a brilliant example of the role that Students’ Unions and their students can play in shaping our future when those with power give us the time and space to be heard. We didn’t have all the answers, but we remained resolute in the principle that freedom of expression is not “freedom from consequences”. 

Categories:

President, Welfare and Liberation Officer

Related Tags :

Ewan Swift, Seun Twins, Welfare and Liberation Officer, SU President,

More Durham SU Articles

More Articles...