Two UCD societies faced potential penalty by the Societies Council over pro-Palestine social media posts.
Two UCD societies have stated to the University Observer that they have faced pressure from the Societies Council regarding their support of Palestine. Both societies claimed that the Societies Council instructed them to take down or avoid making social media posts related to supporting Palestine. Following the events of 7 October 2023 and the 2024 Palestine encampment in Belfield, a number of societies in UCD claim that they were deterred from making statements that spoke up in support of Palestine out of fear of being sanctioned or punished.
Reaching out to two UCD societies, who have both chosen to remain anonymous, the first society commented on their publicly pro-Palestinian stance taken on their social media. During the 2023/2024 academic year, they made social media posts declaring their support for Palestine and also denounced UCD’s response to the events in Palestine.
At the time of the 2024 UCD encampment, the society pinned a post of their official statement supporting Palestine, alongside a video that criticised UCD President Orla Feely onto their Instagram page, while also featuring a Palestinian flag in their profile picture. The auditor for the following 2024/2025 session of the society subsequently received pressure from the Societies Council to remove such posts in February 2025.
The society further commented that a week after being instructed to remove their pro-Palestine posts, the auditor of the society received a phone call from a member of the Societies Council again requesting that they remove posts related to pro-Palestine activism on their Instagram page. The society wrote an email in response to the Societies Council member in which they questioned why the council had found an issue with their posts. The society also stated that they “reviewed the Code of Conduct, Code of Practice for Discipline & Code of Practice for Society Events and found no breach in regulations in regards to our stance”.
In the email, the society pointed out that other societies have taken political stances and made political messages on social media before without backlash, such as the youth wings of political parties on campus. The society said that they “felt targeted” after being phone-called and told directly to take down their pro-Palestine posts.
After this experience, the society faced sanctions on the number of keys they are allowed to hold to access their studio/meeting space. As a result of the society’s committee members participating in the 2024 encampment and using their 24 hour access key to warm up meals in their office, the society went from owning two keys to one. They are currently working on gaining back access to the two keys and have stated that “the effects of the backlash [are] still felt today”.
Another society also commented on their experience with posting Palestine related content and the reaction from the Societies Council. The society’s auditor commented that between October 2023 and May 2024, they experienced a high level of pressure from outside the society committee to make a statement regarding Palestine and where they stood on the matter. However, they felt that they could not make a public statement, largely due to “fear of sanctions from the Societies Council”. The auditor described other society committees also being deterred from mentioning Palestine on their social media accounts due to the possibility of the society being penalised for speaking on the topic.
At a council meeting in June 2024, the society’s auditor claims that the chair of the Societies Council “explicitly stated (with reference to Palestine) that societies shouldn't get involved with political campaigns and activism,” and that “societies shouldn't release statements on behalf of its members to ensure a welcoming space for all”. While no mention of sanctions were made if societies decided to reject these instructions, the chair “was quite stern and no one spoke up in objection to what he had said”. The auditor commented that this subject matter has not been brought up in emails or meetings since.
The University Observer has contacted the Societies Council for comment.