The Durham Tab removed a social-media post after students criticised an anonymous submission about St Chad’s College as homophobic and questioned why it had been published.
The comment appeared in a post on Instagram and Facebook showing student submissions about what makes each Durham college unique. The St Chad’s submission read: “the people (acc only some, not the gays” (sic.) An editor’s note alongside it said: “And there are always some hot takes …”
The post was intended to introduce Freshers to Durham University’s collegiate system. Two slides after the disputed comment, it stated: “There is always something for everyone!” and “No matter your allocation, we are sure you will love college life”. Other submissions praised Grey College’s new pond and Collingwood’s sports and music scene.
Post removed after students raise concerns
The post was published on Wednesday 29th July and removed from Instagram and Facebook shortly afterwards, according to Palatinate.
The following day, Thursday 30th July, The Durham Tab posted an article on LGBTQIA+ visibility at Durham University on the same platforms. Comments on that post referred to the earlier deleted content. One described the LGBTQIA+ visibility article as an “Interesting article” in light of The Tab “posting then deleting homophobic content on here…”. Another commenter said it “would be nice to address [the original post] at least”.
The reaction has renewed questions among students about the moderation of anonymous, crowdsourced submissions. Palatinate reported that similar concerns had previously been raised after an anti-Chinese remark was submitted to DurMemes.
The Tab response
One student told Palatinate the decision to publish the submission was “bizarre and hypocritical due to the editorial team’s expressed standards on self-censorship about other similar issues”. The student said it “fundamentally reflects poorly on the warm, welcoming, and diverse community here at Durham” and described it as another “instance of a page reposting a comment from someone else without censoring it and offending many.”
A spokesperson for The Tab said the comment was an anonymous submission from a Durham reader and was not written, endorsed or authorised by The Tab. The spokesperson said the organisation condemned the submission’s content and discriminatory sentiment “without reservation”, adding that it “should never have been published”.
The spokesperson said the post was removed as soon as the issue was raised and was no longer live on any of The Tab’s platforms. The Tab also said it had swiftly investigated how the content was published and made necessary changes to The Tab Durham team.
The organisation said it was changing how submissions are checked before publication and did not tolerate content that excluded, demeaned or discriminated against any group of students.
The Tab said it has been written and edited by students since 2009 and reports on LGBTQ+ issues as a matter of course. Its spokesperson referred to a May report about Durham Pride going ahead after Reform UK withdrew council funding.