McLennan Community College: Administrator Deletes a Student’s Comment from College Instagram Account

On October 16, 2023, McLennan Community College’s Campus Resources Education Web (CREW) made a public Instagram post advertising an event where students could connect with several local resources, including Planned Parenthood. Student Madison Evans commented on the post: “the murder of innocent babies is not a great resource ever. as a student i am disappointed & disgusted that murder of innocent lives is being encouraged.” An administrator of the Instagram account deleted the comment, and college officials told Evans that “MCC’s social media accounts are not appropriate platforms for expressing concerns about the values of another community organization.” FIRE wrote MCC on November 17, explaining the Instagram account created a forum for open discussion and the deletion of Evans’s comment was clear viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. We urged MCC to restore Evans’s comment to the Instagram post and cease any practice of moderating social media comments based on viewpoint. MCC responded on November 30, sharing that Evans’s comment was in fact restored and that MCC will review its social media content and comment policies and practices to ensure they comply with the First Amendment.