Last week, Dutch political adviser Kay van de Linde gave a guest lecture at the University of Amsterdam (UVA). A student recorded the session in which van der Linde spoke critically about his party. In my opinion from a professional, reflective perspective as we like to see in academics. Afterwards, the recordings where send and published to mainstream weblog Geen Stijl and van de Linde felt it necessary to resign from his post and leave the party.
Today I read in an article that lawyers of the UVA have reviewed the incident and concluded that there are no rules for recording lectures in the study guide of the university. They recommend the university to cite explicitly that for records of lectures with eg mobile phones authorization needs to be requested.
On the one hand this is yet another example of authorities’ struggle with the increased possibilties for content creation and publishing. On the other hand, is forbidding (or a need for authorization) really a solution? This incident shows yet another time the importance of digital literacy. And yes, being aware of the consequenses of what (and where) you publish is also part of being digital literacy.
