A heated discussion on the website of the University of Salford Students Union took a serious turn for the worse, with police being called in to investigate abusive posts and unfounded allegations. As a result it is believed that at least one student has received an £80 fixed penalty notice (these can be given out for public order offences) and several others are expected to get "a talking to".
As a result of police involvement a number of discussion posts have been removed from the website as the union were advised they were breaking the law. Some students have reacted angrily to this "censorship", complaining that USSU has cut off their ability to air the greivances.
The students at Salford have had serious problems with their accommodation, something which their union is currently in the process of dealing with. The principle problems are high prices (by Salford's standards) and a reduction in the amount of work cleaners are doing. It was complaints about the cleaners which sparked the problems - a post by an individual abused two of them by name. A further complaint was sparked by unsubstantiated allegations against a member of the university's accommodation office.
These discussion posts apparently caused complaints within the university's staff structure, which were escalated to the police. The University of Salford's accommodation office was unable to offer any information when contacted.
Some are seeing the involvement of the police as an over-reaction by the university, particularly as it could have been resolved internally. When contacted by Live!, USSU President Andrew Snowden indicated that the union had been contacted before police involvement but failed to act. He declined to comment on why no action was taken, but has taken over control of the message board from USSU Communications Officer Fatima Abrar.
Snowden has since come under fire for the deletion of so many posts, with some believing he has capitulated too easily. With police actively investigating posts on the message board, the 'censorship' looks more like protecting students from themselves, rather than anything more untoward.
Raising some eyebrows, Snowden also requested that complaints about the removal of posts be sent to him in writing so they could be forwarded to Greater Manchester Police as part of their investigation. Speaking to Live! he has since clarified that he would direct the complaints to the GMP for a response, not for further action.
Police traced the students through their email addresses and by contacting the student union's internet service provider, rather than via the union turning information over directly.
The whole incident shows that people running message boards - including ICU's clubs and societies - should take great care with the content they permit and be responsive to concerns. Many of those on the ICU clubs website are left unmonitored and open to abuse.
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