Letter to Editor
March 26, 2019
On Thursday, March 22, 2019, the Instagram campaign page of United Student Government (USG) Presidential Candidate, Jake Berlin, was inactivated following fraudulent reports of abuse. His account, @jakeberlin4you, along with an impartial USG elections reporting account which had reposted his platform no longer exist to inform students of their hopeful representatives’ ideas.
Jake Berlin gained hundreds of followers online and maintains many passionate supporters in person, chiefly due to his unwavering support of openness, public discussion and direct conversations with his constituents. One facet of his outreach, however, was thwarted by those who disagree with him.
Democracies operate under basic maxims, including the freedoms of speech and of thought. Democracy thereby fails when voices are silenced and uncouth political tactics are employed. I believe that USG can only operate democratically when these recently denied liberties are sustained in such short proximity to the election.
Not only have these actions constituted a disservice to Jake Berlin and his many supporters, but it has cheapened the ideas of his opponents. To anyone who disagrees with another under our democracy, heed this: sharpen your arguments and use them, for if they cannot stand alone without underhanded tactics, they were not good enough from the start.
Joseph Chadwick • Mar 28, 2019 at 10:25 pm
Note to moderator: I sincerely hope you consider approving my comment. After all, “Democracies operate under basic maxims, including the freedoms of speech and of thought. Democracy thereby fails when voices are silenced and uncouth political tactics are employed. I believe that USG can only operate democratically when these recently denied liberties are sustained in such short proximity to the election.”.
Joseph Chadwick • Mar 28, 2019 at 10:18 pm
Actually, Jake’s account was pushing the limits of Instagram’s guidelines regarding maximum follows per day. This paired with a few students taking issue with incessant follow requests and reporting the account. Instagram looked into it and removed the account. As for USG Election Watch, I deleted the account due to it introducing far more work and responsibility than I was able to take on during Production 1. I must say, I regret removing the account without making a statement. Clearly, I didn’t consider the possibility that The Globe would stoop so low as to publish a completely uncorroborated, blame-shifting, borderline libelous piece.
While I understand that this article is listed in the opinions column, I find it incredibly difficult to swallow this groan-inducing conspiracy theory that is clearly written to target political opponents. Does this not scream conflict of interest to anyone else? The journalistic integrity of The Globe is in dire straights and it’s entirely because of drivel such as this. In fact, one of the reasons I started USG Election Watch was to combat the clear biases of this newspaper. I suggest reeling back the yellow journalism, maybe then you will regain the respect of readers.