Image may contain: Page, Text

Warwick SU is censoring election campaign posts in foreign languages

Some worry this will deter international students


Warwick SU has come under fire again this week, following its censoring of memes around the current UCU strike, after it removed an SU election campaign message written in both traditional and simplified Chinese from its official Freshers group.

The original post made by Hok Yin Stephen Chiu, in support of Education candidate Welly-Llywelyn Colnet, was as follows:

Image may contain: Poster, Paper, Flyer, Brochure

However, to Hok's surprise his post was removed and he was told by the SU that posts in foreign languages needed to be submitted "for approval prior to posting."

Given that memegate from last week, is fresh on the minds of many, some students were quick to criticise the SU's bureaucratic practices.

Rafael Barnett-Knights,Chair of the SU Welfare Exec, asked:

Image may contain: Text, Handwriting

While Hok questioned whether the SU "actually want international students engaging with SU elections."

Participation should of course be something that the SU is vying for amongst all students, particularly given that last year only 5620 of over 23,000 students voted.

Hok told The Tab:

"I know for a fact many international students do not vote.

There is no doubt that these restrictions on campaigning in foreign languages will not help to engage more international students, which is a shame.

On this occasion and in conjunction with the meme controversy last week, the SU needs to review how their Facebook post censorship policy works, and whether it can be more transparent.

I certainly did not expect to have my comments deleted for campaigning in Simplified and Traditional Chinese."

Image may contain: Text, Handwriting

Warwick SU has been contacted for a statement.