Messenger: Once again, University of Missouri president seeks to stifle dissent, this time on Twitter – STLtoday.com

University of Missouri System president Mun Choi pauses a moment on Friday, June 2, 2017, before addressing system's budget and upcoming layoffs at Memorial Union on the Columbia campus. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com

I feel University of Missouri President Mun Chois pain.

I, too, use the block button on the social media platform Twitter.

Last week, Choi, who recently added chancellor of the universitys flagship Columbia campus to his title, took some heat for blocking students on Twitter who were critical of the universitys response to the coronavirus pandemic. Like many universities across the country that opened up to in-person attendance this fall, the opening in Columbia hasnt gone that well. There has been a spike of COVID-19 cases, not just on campus, but also in surrounding Boone County, which has shown more than a doubling of cases since students returned to campus.

The spike caused a new mask mandate for students, even when outdoors. Local health officials extended various restrictions, including shutting down some bars early. Amid the spike, some students turned to Twitter to criticize the job the university has done managing the pandemic.

Soon, students who chose to criticize Choi found out they were being blocked on Twitter, even if they hadnt tagged the president in their tweets. This didnt go over well with the students, many of them studying at one of the most prominent journalism schools in the nation. National publication BuzzFeed noticed and wrote a story. An attorney from Austin, Texas, who is a 2005 graduate of MU noticed, too.

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Messenger: Once again, University of Missouri president seeks to stifle dissent, this time on Twitter - STLtoday.com