Last week, the Student Government Association (SGA) passed an updated Council on Student Elections (CSE) constitution that specifically illegalized campaigning for student elections via "Facebook, Myspace or any online social directories" - the CSE would simply make one Facebook group to be utilized by all candidates.
However, as students have logged onto their Facebooks in the past few days, they may have noticed that this decision has since been reversed. Ever since campaigning began at 9 p.m. on Monday, executive election candidates have been creating Facebook groups and updating their statuses to promote their platforms as the result of an SGA Judiciary decision passed Sunday afternoon that would allow Facebook to be used in future elections.
Though some students choose not to have one, the majority of Hopkins students maintain Facebook accounts, and the social networking site has been used at colleges across campuses for keeping in touch with classmates, posting pictures and chatting with friends. So according to Evan Lazerowitz, junior and SGA Senator, it would be logical that Facebook could serve as a very effective medium to publicize a campaign to a great number of constituents.
Lazerowitz filed a motion last Thursday to allow Facebook and other social networking tools during election campaigns, citing the rule as a violation of the free speech clause in the SGA constitution that reads, "such [CSE Constitution and election] rules may limit free speech rights of candidates during election periods but not in an overly restrictive manner."
Lazerowitz, who authored the SGA constitution, said that he had previously been under the impression that the CSE had put a limitation on Facebook but not a complete ban.
He drafted a brief and as a vice presidential candidate in the upcoming election, Lazerowitz worked quickly to make sure that the SGA Judiciary's decision would come out before campaigning officially began.
Lazerowitz and junior Alieu Kanu, CSE chair, met before the Judiciary on Friday. Kanu represented the defendant, the CSE, while Evan presented his own case to the four out of five judiciaries present.
Kanu said, "I'm not against Facebook at all, I think it's a very good resource. However, it has to be used in an orderly fashion."
After deliberating for several days, the Judiciary made its decision Sunday, in favor of Lazerowitz, and notified both Lazerowitz and the CSE on Monday morning. Its reasoning was specified as such: "While the court acknowledges that the CSE has a legitimate interest in regulating the campaign process, we have determined that the prohibition of online social directories is indeed overly restrictive as it unreasonably curtails the free exchange of thoughts ... throughout the democratic process."
The decision effectively struck out bylaws of the CSE's Rules and Regulations that prohibit Facebook, and allowed the use of the site in campaigning.
Though this was helpful news for the rest of the candidates, they did not receive word of the decision until 7:30 p.m. on Monday, about an hour and a half before campaigning was officially underway.
Lazerowitz stressed that his own rationale for filing the brief was not for his own personal agenda in elections but to uphold the SGA's policies on free speech. Both candidates for Lazerowitz and sophomore Arjun Kapur, presidential candidate, have since created Facebook groups, though Lazerowitz's was established several hours before Kapur's.
Free speech has been crucial to the SGA's mission; for example, the SGA is not allowed to withhold money from any groups simply because it does not agree with the group's mission or purpose. In line with this, Lazerowitz said he believed that Facebook should be allowed in all campaigns.
"Most schools allow Facebook groups [for campaigning]. There have not been any issues and I don't foresee any issues. It would allow for more of an exchange of ideas, so that people don't just vote for who they see and know; they can read peoples' platforms and make their own decisions from that. I think it has ultimately enhanced the whole election's atmosphere," he said.
Kanu said of the results, "I still hold my original position. Maybe Facebook shouldn't be blocked totally, and status updates could be allowed, but I think that the creation of groups are going to create a lot of issues when it comes to class elections. It's not as bad as a problem now with executive elections, but with class elections you are going to have some 20 people running and creating Facebook groups; people are going to get annoyed and tired of it."
Even if the existence of too many Facebook groups does hinder the point of using the Web site to campaign during class elections, the CSE rules and regulations explicitly forbid any amendments from the beginning of executive elections until the end of class elections.
Though Facebook has not been previously allowed, it is clear that problems may arise in terms of policing infractions.
Since Facebook's filters allow some people to see content and hides some from others, monitoring groups and profiles for infractions will prove to become difficult. However, each candidate has a right to free speech that some argue the CSE should have no right to infringe on.
