Issue 1414 Monday 24 May 2021 thecourieronline.co.uk
THE COURIER
Free every term
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF NEWCASTLE STUDENTS
Are women being failed in music?
NFTs? Nah, f*ck that!
What happens when cryptocurrencies sweep the art world?
Music | pages 22-23
Celebrities and politics
Do they deserve the airtime?
Arts | page 29
Comment | page 9
Newfess II: the most toxic of uni confession pages Alex Gervas
— News sub-editor
Our News subeditor delves into the controversial anonymous confessions Facebook page, Newfess, and talks to some regular users Content warning: harassment and bullying, mentions of suicide, ableism and racism his ‘confession’ may come as no surprise. Most Newcastle University students and alumni have experienced or witnessed bullying on the University’s main Facebook confession page. However, the behaviour of these
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‘internet trolls’ opens up a debate on accountability and the regulation of confession pages. But why does Newfess II make students roll their eyes every time they hear the name? The increasing tension of the political climate and the cabin fever produced by the multiple lockdowns we have faced over the past year have made the whole internet climate unstable and unhealthy. “There’s already been an uptick in submissions about going out and having fun, as well as fesses, and normal life around the world is still a long way away. Another thing is that Newfess has had a reach that extends beyond Newcastle and across the country,” said one the Newfess II admins. The admin told The Courier: “There definitely seems to be a lot more bullying on Newfess than on other confession pages, but it doesn’t rule out that their submission boxes are full of it too.” An anonymous user defined Newfess’s toxicity as “an intrinsic problem
“Genuine debate or education is okay, as long as we’re not up for debating basic human rights” with the medium, encouraging people to send in edgy/offensive comments for the fun of it.” He continued by saying: “genuine debate or education is okay, as long as we’re not up for debating basic human rights.” While the admins said that some offensive posts are filtered out, especially if they are explicitly racist, homophobic, or sexist comments, they added: “Some posts that perhaps shouldn’t be allowed are accepted on the basis that somebody will explain to the OP why what they’re saying is wrong. With the new Uni-
Truths submission tracking system, I’m hoping this evolves to enable admins to leave a note explaining why somebody’s post was declined.” Elizabeth Meade told The Courier: “It’s not marginalised people’s job to teach people why being racist, sexist, etc. is wrong. It’s also not the job of anyone being bullied/harassed for any reason to explain why bullying and harassment are wrong. Admins should absolutely step in if someone is being discriminatory, bullying, etc.” “As a society we should educate each other, but anonymous hate is never something to educate it simply shouldn’t be allowed. Sadly, people don’t use Newfess to ask many questions, more to harm other people,” said Madeleine Lake. Many of the users that got in contact with us believed that the responsibility of regulating opinions should fall on the page’s admins. Despite seemingly having good intentions, the Facebook
page opens a door to the dissemination of hate speech and defamation, and attacks toward individuals like Sabbatical Officers or users like Naomi, who was accused of defending sexual assaulters. Haaris Qureshi said: “This [form of educating posters] only works on a properly moderated platform, and when you know people are acting in best faith and want to challenge their ignorance. Also, there is no way of really knowing you’ve educated someone because they do not take ownership of their post. There are better and more suited platforms for this.” The anonymity of the platform has been a point of discussion for many. Some say that anonymity provides the writer with a safe space to ask genuine questions or talk about a personal issue. However, it also avoids posters to be held accountable for bullying or hate speech and harassment. Page 3
Revealed: Newcastle Uni edited forms after they were signed by members of staff Joe Molander
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— Head of Current Affairs
ewcastle University altered three forms in March last year after they had been signed by members of staff, The Courier can reveal. An Internal Audit report concluded that this did not constitute forgery. The forms were signed by members of the politics department working on fixed term contracts, and related to their impending redundancy. Prior to being edited, the forms suggested that the redundancies may not go ahead. The unedited forms promised “we will be making a case for retention of all our teaching fellows… in late-spring 2020.” They emphasised “the need to retain our existing cohort of teaching fellows on temporary 12 month contracts for
the foreseeable future.” However, the forms were then edited to remove any mention of this. What takes its place is an explanation that the head of the politics department would be “working closely with those at risk of redundancy to support them in the search for further work, either at Newcastle or beyond.” The edited forms add that staff in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology (GPS) have access to “individual dedicated funding for training, networking, conferences and other career development needs”. The edited forms also discuss “career discussions” and “support for writing and teaching”. Two of these forms have been seen by The Courier. A copy of one can be found below, with some redaction applied by The Courier to protect the anonymity of the signatory: Page 3