University of Central Florida: Censorship of Internet Speech

At the University of Central Florida, student Matthew Walston came under attack for creating a group on the website Facebook.com. He was charged with harassment for his Facebook group entitled "Victor Perez is a Jerk and a Fool," despite being well within his right to free speech under the First Amendment. Perez, who at the time was running for Student Senate, complained to the administration. Although the school informed FIRE that he was not being prosecuted for the complaint, Walston was called to a disciplinary hearing, where the charge of harassment through personal abuse was eventually dismissed.

Case Materials

• "Student Wins Facebook.com Case at University of Central Florida," FIRE Press Release, March 6, 2006: First Amendment rights on the Internet were recently vindicated at the University of Central Florida. Until FIRE intervened, a student was set to be punished on harassment charges for calling a student government candidate “a jerk and a fool” on the popular college website Facebook.com.
• "University of Central Florida 'Not In Violation' Notice to Matt Walston, February 7, 2006," February 7, 2006
• "Letter from University of Central Florida Counsel Youndy Cook to FIRE, February 3, 2006," February 3, 2006
• "FIRE Letter to University of Central Florida President John C. Hitt, January 31, 2006," January 31, 2006
• "University of Central Florida Notification of Charge Against Matthew Walston," October 3, 2005
• "University of Central Florida Student Complaint Against Matt Walston," September 15, 2005

Media Coverage

• "College Athletes Caught in Tangled Web," Brent Schrotenboer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24, 2006: College students across the country have been cited or disciplined for content they posted on social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, including such things as criticism of a student government candidate (at the University of Central Florida), complaints about the theater department (Cowley College in Kansas) or vulgar comments about a teaching assistant (Syracuse).
• "Lack of Legal Precedent Poses Major Problem for Schools," Wendy Leung, Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.), May 22, 2006: School administrators are increasingly asked what kind of cyberspeech causes campus disruption. As more students -- from elementary school to college -- network online, more are being punished for their postings.
• "University presidents battle for honors in spinelessness," John Leo, Universal Press Syndicate, May 1, 2006: Judges agreed they had never seen two candidates as eminently qualified as Rawlins and Holtschneider. Calling the pair “the Ruth and Gehrig of modern Sheldonism,” the judges awarded the golden no-spine statuette to both. Congratulations, Sheldon laureates 2006.

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