Would you report this group chat?

‘ it’s quite clear that the world would be a better place without you in it’

Hate speech of course, from you OP. But I won’t ‘report’ you since you saying that, no matter how repulsive it is, is your right to do so.

It would seem that you are projecting, and judging those in the chat group by your own standards. Of course..

I forgot about this guy! He's been squatting and dropping posts here too?

Be still my beating heart! A real keyboard warrior gracing us fickle women of Mumsnet with his presence.
I thought true heroes were no more.

"Should" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. There's lots of things that should and should not happen - but they don't and they do, regardless.

They're adults, they can sort it for themselves, and OP offered absolutely no examples (and then ran away after showing her true colours!) so it could just be her explicit bias and prejudice that's the problem. Anyway, it wasn't worth an AIBU at all, few things are tbh, she should just do it, or not, no need to post in the hope of group approval, most of these AIBUs are just looking for a dopamine hit from people telling them what a wonderful person they are and run away when they're told they're not.

Do you seriously think what I wrote has relevance to what you are saying. Of course universities should be a place of ideas and debate that can lead to challenging views and opinions. But a WhatsApp tutorial group for Mathematics is a group for challenging thoughts and discussions on Mathematics and maybe theories, history, and the Mathematician's place in society etc. Not a place for people to rant about personal issues with explicit bias and prejudice, especially when it's the leader of the group.

The OP is, at best, a very unreliable narrator. She believes she is superior to anyone who disagrees with her and that those who write words that enrage her have no right to exist in this world.

She has stated this in a public forum. Imagine what she'd say if she were not restricted. Imagine believing yourself to be a superior person and having issues with other people's comments when you are capable of such venom.

There is no reason therefore to believe anybody in the chat is saying anything particularly remarkable or notable, and aligning yourself with a woman like this is not a win for anyone.

If OP could quote anything that would be notable, she'd have done so - and I am afraid that after being told I should not exist for having thoughts she does not agree with I would not be inclined to believe anything she said now anyway

As to the chat itself, they are all adult human beings who can, and should, make their own decisions about the chat.

If the person running the chat thinks things are getting out of hand, it is his/her responsiblity to say so.

OP has a few options.

She can leave adults in peace to have thoughts she does not agree with and get on with existing (although that would not be her preference, obviously) and just leave the chat. I am sure there is a Red Guard chat she'd be suited to, somewhere.

She can report it. Nothing will be done because nothing can be done about adult people existing and speaking words you don't like to other adults. I think she should report it, actually, as it would at least let other people know her character, while not actually shutting down the chat.

She can start her own chat and police their thoughts carefully.

She could have a bit of a backbone and, if someone is derailing the chat, say "I'm really keen to stick to the topic of a/b/c can anybody answer this?

I would not be part of a chat group like this, I'd find it irritating at best and likely be offended by much of the content. But as I am not a totalitarian who believes in censorship for wrongthink, I'd just do the adult thing and leave.

It's a professional Whatsapp group for study at University, your 'some' argument holds no weight, we know the context.

Also a lecturer and this is so insanely unprofessional, I would also say report if you feel able.

It's not censoring views, it's holding staff to the expectations for professional conduct that we all sign up for in doing this job.

If this were an in person support group and the lecturer showed up and just ranted about nonsense and insulted people, would it be more obvious that this is about professionalism?

A full range of relevant discussion should be encouraged, but you don't make academic progress in maths by hearing your tutor's thoughts on benefits claimants (or their marital problems, piles, or difficulty getting a window cleaner).

Having professional boundaries is not censorship.

More ridiculous than ops vile comment?
i don’t have a problem with free speech and with that in mind, it’s quite clear that the world would be a better place without you in it. Here’s another love heart ❤️ ?

Also not reporting as it deserves to stand to show the ops true character.

Honestly? I wonder if you could post a message along the lines of you think that it would be great to have a group for maths support but you hadn’t realised that there would be so much personal chat on it. It’s difficult for you to follow the group in this case. Then ask if there is a separate group solely for maths support.

Ideally recruit a bunch of people to jump in with “Yes, I’d like that too!”, “Great idea!”. Once a dozen or so people have made it clear they don’t like the personal chat then it should get the point across.

Great analogy. If the lecturer wants to set up a private group chat to share jokes and make comments about immigrants and disabled people, they should do that. They can invite staff and make it clear it is a private group and control the membership of it.

If the department sets up a chat designed to support students and shares the general invite with students, using that chat for this purpose is not a few people sharing racist comments on a group chat. It has become a public form where the level of accountability changes. They can still do those things if they like, but they wouldn’t be able to claim it’s a private group chat with consenting adults.

I would report this for one reason only. This puts the university at risk of reputational damage and the management will want to know this is their risk. If there are scores of unknown users in the group, all it takes is for one person to screenshot the most odious of comments and post them online and there will be a scandal. In today’s climate it is highly likely someone would do that.

Nope, entirely about free speech. OP has not given a single example of anything said, or any indication that anything could be categorised at hate speech.

She simply said she found the jokes inappropriate and doesn't like the tone. The reason she has given no examples is that there are no examples of anything that needs to be reported. Adults are allowed to disagree with one another, tell jokes that others don't like and even be robust about it.

That's free speech.

Additionally, I encouraged the OP to report them, and I meant it. I firmly believe that nothing will be done at all in response to her complaint, because nothing needs to be, or can be, done about people exercising their right to say words other people might not like.

Op then popped back later to point out that she believes herself to be superior to everyone who disagrees with her and that I should not exist for writing words she does not agree with.

I mean, I'm not saying that anyone who is supportive of her stance is as bad as she is, but I'd think twice about aligning yourself with someone who has such extremist, hateful views as the OP has posted here.

Where is OP supposed to get her maths support then, if the so called support forum is for personal, private discussion?

Perhaps ask an innocuous maths question and see what responses you get. Might be a good way to remind people what the group is supposed to be for.

Because a someone making this kind of complaint can seriously damage their career, particularly if they are a woman. Whistleblowers are allowed to be anonymous, that’s protected by law, and quite rightly too.

I think you’re applying a very general principle to a specific scenario where other factors trump freedom of speech. Here, the trump card is that it’s a professional environment so personal matters should only be shared between employees and students in very limited circumstances. An analogy might be:

A doctor sets up a chat where patients can purportedly get support with quitting smoking or vaping, and other colleagues join as well as many patients, yet the focus is significantly on the doctor’s personal life and other unrelated matters. Everyone on the chat is an adult and has consented to being part of it, but it’s still inappropriate because the doctor has set it up in their capacity as a professional not as a private citizen.

Great post. The lack of self awareness indicated by making that comment is astonishing.

This is possibly the most ridiculous thing I have read on here for a while, and that’s saying something.

If you can’t see this has nothing to do with “free speech” then you have a problem.

Or, is it “speech free of consequences” you really want?

I hadn’t seen this update when I posted my response to you above. There’s no need for this at all.

I'm a university lecturer and this is very much not on - yes, we can chat with students and express opinions but this seems to have gone a fair bit further than that. I would mention it to the course director.

How can there be academic progress when people seek to sensor anything to which they disagree . You don’t create inquisitive minds by hearing one narrative . How can anyone go through life hearing only likeminded individuals. The whole thing is part of the culture wars that have lead to the rise of Reform . Suppress conversation to this degree and people rebel which is what we are seeing now .

Oh I agree, I definitely did not report it. I want people to see who she is.

She is the perfect example of those who support the thought police.

Seriously? That last comment is dreadful. You are complaining about people saying nasty stuff in a group chat and then you come off with that? In the spirit of free speech I don’t intend to report your comment as I think it NEEDS to stand. Others may feel differently. I reckon you should retain your membership of the WhatsApp group because it sounds as though you’ll fit right in.

Additionally, I did not say the OP was Hitler, nor did I imply it.

I said Hitler and every other totalitarian dictator in history salutes those who police wrongthink.

Hitler was rather well known for thinking that he was superior to those who he wanted not to exist, of course.

And then the OP popped in to snarl that everyone who disagrees with her can be categorised as her inferior and that she thinks I should not exist for writing words and thinking thoughts she doesn't agree with.

And at that point, all I could do was laugh.

This isn't a group chat created by mates in the pub. This is a chat to support academic progress based on a contractual relationship. That's its purpose. It is incumbent that everyone can feel that they can participate without hearing other's prejudices or rants about personal matters, especially when the they are the lead of the group and have a power dynamic.
Nothing to do with freedom of expression. You would be concerned that anyone employed to facilitate these types of groups didn't realise this.