Students protest university's decision to ban The Sun by handing out free copies on campus
'Students weren't consulted on the issue and despite there being a vocal opposition to it'
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Your support makes all the difference.A group of university students have covered their student union building with tabloid newspapers in protest over its controversial decision to ban them on campus.
Student council members from Queen Mary, University of London, voted in favour of banning sales of The Sun, The Express and the Daily Mail on campus, adding the university to a list of 30 institutions now in boycott of the publications.
Queen Mary Student Union (QMSU) said its decision was made on the basis that the newspapers did not stand by the union’s values of “diversity and inclusivity”, but students from the university’s Free Speech Society argue the move is a form of censorship and threatens university life.
Members of the society have resorted to handing out copies of The Sun to students at the Mile End campus as part of a stunt to demonstrate their anger at what they say is “dangerous censorship” by the university.
Free Speech Society member Emily Dinsmore, who led the stunt, told The Independent: “I was angry; 13 student council members voted in favour of the ban… Students weren't consulted on the issue and despite there being a vocal opposition to it, I felt the students' union ignored this and pushed forward with their own agenda.”
The undergraduate physics student said newspapers were also stuck up on the walls of the students’ union building and left in newspaper racks where they can no longer be stocked.
“We did this to protest the ban and also to defend press freedom,” she said.
“It was a fun stunt with a serious message that campus censorship should be rejected and we should defend press freedom - even if you don't agree with what a particular newspaper publishes.”
The QMSU boycott follows similar decisions made by London’s City University and Plymouth student unions, and comes amid pressure from campaign groups for private companies including advertisers to end their support of so-called “hate newspapers” criticised for their negative coverage of matters such as immigration.
A Daily Mail front page story that attacked a High Court ruling on Brexit last year received more than 1,000 formal complaints to media regulator IPSO.
In a motion to ban the paper along with The Sun and The Daily Express in December, Queen Mary students stated: “The Union should continue to stand in solidarity with refugees, migrants, ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups.
A Daily Mail front page story that attacked a High Court ruling on Brexit last year received more than 1,000 formal complaints to media regulator IPSO.
In a motion to ban the paper along with The Sun and The Daily Express in December, Queen Mary students stated: “The Union should continue to stand in solidarity with refugees, migrants, ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups.
“The Union should continue to stand by its mission, vision and values such as “diversity and inclusivity”.
“The Union should not sell nor stock The Daily Mail, The Sun or The Daily Express in its venues and outlets due to the hateful treatment of these groups by newspapers.”
Passing the motion, QMSU said in a statement: It is important to note that this motion is not a ban of these newspapers from Queen Mary campuses and students are more than welcome to bring them onto campus.
"It is a commercial boycott that will ensure the Union does not profit from the sale of these newspapers."
A spokesperson for Queen Mary University said the university would “respect” the rights of the Student’s Union to make decisions on what is sold within its shops.
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