Montreal Concordia University bans Facebook
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Montreal’s Concordia University has, “taken the remarkable step of blocking campus access to Facebook for students and faculty connecting via a wired connection,” says Ottawa law professor Michael Geist.
Facebook is one of the principal means used by Canadian online activists to force politicians to pay attention to the demands of the people who elected them.
But Concord says it banned the social networking site because of “concerns that the continuing reliability of the Concordia network could be compromised because of spam, viruses and leaks of confidential information related to Facebook use,” says Geist, going on:
” Say what? The University is concerned about spam arising from Facebook use and so decides to cut off access?”
He continues, “Leaving aside the obvious – (1) if there is a real issue it makes no sense to allow wireless connections but not wired connections and (2) since when is this a network issue specific to Facebook – this sends the wrong message to students.”
Facebook’s owners use the site as a corporate advertising vehicle but to their disappointment, its members are apparently largely ignoring the ads and are instead increasingly using it as what it’s purported to be —- a social networking site.
But, “Facebook is more than just a popular social network,” says Geist. ” It can be a tool for advocacy and education as well as a mechanism for student groups to connect.
Even if it “wasn’t useful,” the Concordia action, “would still be wrong,” says Geist, adding:
” Simply put, universities should not be in the business of blocking access to legitimate, legal websites.”
However, Facebook can still be accessed by WiFi.
Michael Geist – Concordia Blocking Access to Facebook, September 11, 2008
largely ignoring the ads – Users ignore Facebook advertising!, August 26, 2008
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September 15th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Faculty and staff, especially undergraduate student staff, were spending ridiculous amounts of time on facebook. Their workstations are all wired in. The administration wasn’t terribly thrilled about this, so it was blocked. It’s purely a staff productivity issue. Universities aren’t just academic institutions anymore, I’m afraid, they’re also businesses.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Which is to say nothing of students and student workstations, apparently.