On December 7, 2012, Missouri Western State University’s Department of Nursing and Allied Health added a new social media policy to its Student Handbook. That ill-considered policy prohibited students from “post[ing] unfavorable remarks about any academic or clinical institution, faculty, staff or patients” or transmitting “any . . . institution-related image that . . . would cause embarrassment.” The policy also required that “[a]ny images of health professions students in uniform posted on social media sites must reflect a positive image.” Finally, the policy included broad language prohibiting students from making any controversial statements or using profanity on social media.
In response to a complaint the ACLU received from a health professions student last spring, Legal Director Doug Bonney sent a demand letter to the University’s General Counsel on June 3, 2013. In that letter, the ACLU argued that the Department’s social media policy was vague and overbroad and thus violated the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause.
In response to the ACLU’s letter, the University promised that the Department would not enforce the new social media policy and that it would undertake a review of the policy.
On December 18, 2013, the University’s Risk Manager advised Legal Director Bonney that the Department had rescinded the entire social media policy and replaced it with “suggestions” for students using social media. Those suggestions warn health professions students that postings on social media can harm professional reputations and career chances, and they link to the American Nursing Association’s “Principles for Social Networking,” which generally counsel nurses to protect patient privacy and to adhere to ethics rules.
The ACLU Foundation of Kansas is concerned that, in drafting social media policies, colleges and universities routinely run roughshod over the constitutional rights of students, faculty, and staff. The ACLU will continue to monitor social media policies and will intervene whenever necessary to protect fundamental liberties of free speech and association.
ACLU Demand Letter, June 3, 2013