A message from Ira Helsloot about corona has been removed from LinkedIn for violating the social networking site’s policies. In his post, the Governing Safety Professor referred to an article by a colleague about the Covid-19 pandemic. Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken does not understand. ‘It is not up to private parties to safeguard the freedom of speech, but up to the courts.’

‘Beautiful piece by a ‘thinker of the fatherland’ and a highly regarded colleague. Now, incidentally, he is less appreciated by those same media who first (rightly) found his thinking illuminating and bold.’ This is what Ira Helsloot, Professor of Management of Security, wrote on LinkedIn last week. In the post he added a link to an article by philosopher René ten Bos in the Dutch Journal of Medicine, entitled ‘Is Covid-19 a hype?’

Not much later Helsloot received a message that the post had been taken offline by LinkedIn. Whether that happened after a complaint from a person or through an algorithm is not clear. ‘I only received a general notification that the message violated LinkedIn policy,’ Helsloot said on the phone. ‘Strange, because my message was polite.’

On appeal

Helsloot does not understand why his message was taken offline. ‘In the article I shared, René ten Bos clearly explains how people deal with hypes. When we are all focused on one aspect, it is difficult to take a broader view,’ he says. ‘In the corona crisis too, we are focusing unilaterally on the number of infections and cases of illness and the resulting overburdening of care. But there is also a downside: by closing the schools, young people from underprivileged families build up a lot of learning delay. Research shows that they lose many healthy years of life in this way.’

Helsloot is lodging an appeal against LinkedIn’s decision, but does not have the impression that his post will be back online soon. ‘I received an automatic message saying LinkedIn is receiving a lot of complaints and they don’t know when they’ll handle mine.’

‘I liked René ten Bos’ article – it was stimulating’

In the meantime, the professor is supported by Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken. He calls it a disgrace that a social platform deleted this post. ‘Ira Helsloot’s message was not indecent and did not call for violence. I liked René ten Bos’ article – it was stimulating, even if I didn’t agree with everything he wrote. That is simply part of an academic debate – all voices should be heard, as long as claims are substantiated and you listen to the opinion of the opposing party. Those conditions have been met in this matter.’

Not virus deniers

The Rector therefore has no understanding whatsoever for LinkedIn’s decision. ‘I find it very bizarre that they don’t provide any good substantiation for the removal of the post. Helsloot and Ten Bos are not virus deniers, nor do they believe in conspiracies, and don’t call for violence. I don’t know whether we will take further steps as a university – first, we’ll await LinkedIn’s response to Van Helsloot’s appeal. I am concerned, however, that commercial parties can block certain voices and sounds – in a normal democracy that is up to a judge. The power of private companies over freedom of expression deserves a solid debate.’

Helsloot is pleased with the support from the Rector and shares his opinion on the importance of freedom of expression. He will therefore not let LinkedIn’s action deter him from posting ‘corona-critical’ messages on the social networking site again, he says. ‘That would be admitting defeat. As scientists at Radboud University, we believe it is important to communicate with society. As a society, we need to debate whether we can make stricter demands on social media.’