The University of Fiji has sought legislative clarity from the Online Safety Commission after the Vice Chancellor, Professor Shaista Shameem and the University were targeted over the weekend by an on-line trolling crusade, involving 184 people in a group email and several Instagram handles, that attempted to discredit Professor Shameem and the University’s reputation and high standing in the community.
UniFiji is seeking clarity on the Section 17 Freedom of Speech, Expression and Publication limitation provisions of the Constitution.
The Vice Chancellor says she herself had been personally singled out by name in the trolling by a senior employee of another educational institution.
She says the employee had sent out emails selectively to a large group, exactly how many was not yet clear.
Many of the group are well-known academics, religious leaders, members of the media at top levels, and public officers.
Professor Shameem says the trolling is clearly meant to be disseminated as widely as possible.
The University became aware of the email when it was copied to her by one of the group supporting the employee’s allegations.
Professor Shameem says the email falsified the University’s assessment criteria disseminating it to 184 named people including Ministers and senior members of the media.
The email was also disseminated by Instagram.
Professor Shameem says the institution behind the email clearly sees itself as a rival though it cannot possibly compete with UniFiji’s international reputation, hence probably the reason behind the online misdemeanor.
Professor Shameem says while the University would normally lead by example and illustrate its high calibre by educational performance and its global Quality Assurance Badge, they could not ignore such misrepresentation of the University by another institution during what is the student registration period.
She says the online information provided to prospective students is now widespread and accessible to everyone.
Professor Shameem says such misbehaviour by another higher education institution trying to increase its market share by nefarious means online will be dealt with by reference to the Online Safety Commission.
Professor Shameem says the rival institution cannot take refuge in freedom of opinion.
She says section 17 of the Constitution protects freedom of speech, opinion and expression but with significant limitation clauses also set out in the same section, including for online dissemination and publication.
The Vice Chancellor says section 17 (2) of the Constitution prohibits advocacy of hatred that is based on any prohibited ground of discrimination in the Constitution or is an incitement to cause harm.
She says section 17 (3) protects the right to be free from hate speech whether directed against individuals or groups and prevents attacks on the dignity of individuals, groups and institutions.
Professor Shameem says before the University takes the next legal steps, she has requested the Online Safety Commission to provide guidelines on the constitutional free speech limitation clauses.
She says since the email message involved many people, Instagram handles, and probably also disseminated to countless others by the blind carbon copy (bcc) method, the University’s first option was to refer the matter to the Online Safety Commission for its guidance.
We are in the process of getting comments from the Online Safety Commission.
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