– I was confused at first. But then I got angry that they just remove a post of something so important, says Sasha Salin. She is a student at UiB and works as an assistant at the Academy of Fine Arts (KMD). Salin has been given the green light to regularly publish pictures of life on KMD’s Instagram account, without asking for approval first. Salin is in favor of being able to express oneself freely on campus, but now feels censored. Photo: Private Deleted after one hour Recently, she posted pictures of large banners and posters with messages about the Gaza war that had been hung up at the university by unknown people. For Salin, it was quite common to take pictures of life on campus, so she saw no problem in posting pictures of the banners and posters that hung all over the entrance area. But after only one hour, the pictures were deleted from KMD’s Instagram account. Since these posters were all over campus, Sasha doesn’t understand why she shouldn’t be allowed to post the post. Photo: Sasha Salin When she complained about the deletion, she received this response from faculty director Synnøve Myhre, in consultation with the dean of the faculty of art, music and design, Frode Thorsen: Hi Sasha, Thank you for your inquiry via Karina and for your involvement in this important and deeply tragic conflict. The reason why we removed the story that was posted on Monday morning was that we came to work and saw that banners had been hung on the facade in Møllendalsveien 61, which is considered UiB areas. We wanted to take the time to think about and discuss how we should handle the matter, at the same time as stories were posted on KMD’s social media. Salin reacts strongly to the fact that the post was deleted on the grounds that the university thought it was political. – I find it difficult to understand the guidelines. Because when Russia invaded Ukraine, UiB regularly posted on Instagram. By comparison, the university has only posted one Israel-Palestine post on Instagram. UiB admits that the decision to delete the image may have been wrong. – Some decisions can certainly be discussed afterwards and we are positive about that. Hindsight is sometimes a necessary exercise. If what happens here leads to a wider debate, then that is positive, says dean Frode Thorsen. Responding to double standards The Norwegian Student Organization (NSO) is critical of UiB’s handling of the matter and that they label Gaza support as a political statement. – The institutions have a duty and responsibility to create space for expression. It worries us if some institutions do the opposite, says Oline Sæther, head of NSO. Norwegian Student Organisation’s leader Oline Sæther believes that universities should protect students’ freedom of expression. Photo: Skjalg Bøhmer Vold / NSO Sæther says that students have always been involved politically, also on campus. – Restrictions on students’ expressions must not take place, even if the institutions apologize afterwards. We expect them to make it possible for students to express themselves politically and hold political demonstrations, says Sæther. – Thought auction was political Sasha Salin is not alone in feeling censored by UiB. In early November, Emma Jacobsen published this post on her Instagram story: Jacobsen’s story on Instagram was shared by others. She no longer has an overview of how many people have seen the post. The background was that an auction on campus to generate income for emergency aid for the war-affected in Gaza must have been canceled or ordered to be moved. The management must have stated that the auction had a political message and thus could not be held on the university’s premises. – But I had read the poster, so I knew that this did not have a political message. There were only humanitarian purposes behind it, says Emma Jacobsen. Emma Jacobsen refused to let the event be canceled for a reason she thought was completely wrong: – It is obvious that this was a humanitarian auction, not a political one. Photo: Karoline Forberg When the auction was rejected, Jacobsen was contacted by Kaja Ingdal, leader of the Student Parliament at the University of Bergen. The student parliament would help students to find out their rights. In UiB’s regulations, they found nothing about students not being able to get involved politically in university premises. – We therefore believe that this violates the students’ freedom of expression, says Ingdal. The student parliament demonstrates that students should be able to express themselves politically on campus, and that the auction should therefore not have been rejected in the first place. Photo: Truls Skram Lerø Snudde The post was spread on social media. Only two days later, the management called in another meeting with the students. UiB had turned around: the auction could still be held, because the management had concluded that the event still had a humanitarian purpose. Dean Frode Thorsen claims that the management never canceled the market at any time. – It has previously been pointed out that it cannot take place on our premises. The way it has been presented to us, we feared it could be divisive. We therefore recommended that the market could be held elsewhere and suggested a venue for it. This is what the auction’s poster looked like. The university believed it showed a political message. Photo: The auction’s organizers – UiB must give space for expressions UiB’s rector, Margareth Hagen, says that students are allowed to use the campus to express themselves politically, but says that in this case in particular there are many considerations to take into account. – We have both employees and students who are both Israelis and Palestinians. But UiB has never been neutral in the conflict. Margareth Hagen is rector at the University of Bergen. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news The rector clarifies that it is completely normal procedure for the management to spend time assessing events on campus. – But the university must be a free place for students to express themselves politically. It is a claim that the students Salin and Jacobsen do not recognize, seen in the light of the events they have experienced. – It’s about the opportunity to be able to express yourself. The universities have a duty and responsibility to supplement that, says Oline Sæther, head of the Norwegian Student Organisation. – If this had happened to a student who does not speak out as strongly as I do, I doubt that the auction would have been held, says Emma.
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The University of Bergen deleted Sasha’s picture of Gaza support – news Vestland
