Feminists are now blaming universities for not protecting them from the pain and heartbreak of social media.
On May 4, the group Feminists United filed a Title IX lawsuit against the University of Mary Washington and its former president Richard Hurley, alleging that the university was in violation of Title IX and the 14th Amendment for not taking sufficient enough action against offensive speech on the anonymous posting app Yik Yak.
According to the suit, the school failed to “protect them from a sexually hostile school environment" on Yik Yak, an app that grants users the ability to freely post short messages anonymously to others within a geographic area. It also allows users to start threads from their initial post in the comments sections. The app, in essence, is a free speech haven.
But, according to the Feminists United group, its content had become “overtly sexist and/or threatening," citing some comments telling feminists to "calm the hell down," or calling them foul names.
The group claims that by not blocking the app from being accessed using the school’s WiFi, the university is failing to “protect the plaintiffs” from offensive "yaks." The lawsuit accuses the school of “deliberate indifference," which is punishable under Title IX. In its defense, the university denies that there is a “sufficiency of evidence" to support the group's allegations. The claims of the feminist group are disputed by both UMW and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is a nonprofit civil liberties organization.
Daniel Burnett, a representative for FIRE, chimed in on the debate, questioning whether any of the posts on Yik Yak constitute a real threat under Title IX. In an email to The College Fix, Mr Burnett cited the 2003 Supreme Court case Virginia v. Black, which found that “‘true threats’ encompass those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
This case provides a strong defense for the university because most the of the yaks involved “derogatory remarks or even invitations for students to engage in debate with members of Feminists United,” as laid out by FIRE program director Susan Kruth. These statements, however fowl they may have been, don't constitute a real and serious threat according to the law.
Despite the university’s stance on the matter, UMD claims they've taken many “proactive initiatives,” including the hiring of a “Title IX investigator” and “requiring Title IX/ sexual violence training for all faculty, staff, and students,” as reported by campus spokeswoman Anna Billingsley. These moves may help the university clear its name as the suit heads to court.
Although the court's proceedings may find the University of Mary Washington’s actions to be within the boundaries of the law, Yik Yak recently announced it will be shutting down. The intent of Yik Yak’s creators was to grant every user the right to unabashedly and unapologetically post whatever they wanted within the confines of the First Amendment. Sadly, the application has become maligned for facilitating online anonymous harassment among the youth, despite in many cases being an outlet for constructive debate and creative humor.
According to a USA Today report, the company blames its shutdown on “management miscues, fickle users, and school bans."