Twitter picture, not retweets, under review for privacy, sexual misconduct

The Twitter account @bsu_makeouts, is safe from investigation, while a photo it retweeted earlier in September is not.

Mike Gillilan, director of the Office of Student Rights and Community Standards, said he will not review anyone who retweeted the photo, which showed two people engaging oral sex outside, but instead is focusing on the person who originally captured and tweeted it.

He said he still hopes the investigation sends a message to students.

“I would like to think that students in general are more thoughtful on how they portray themselves, and others and the university on social media,” Gillilan said. “I am not going to try to regulate that. ... I am trying to influence that.”

He said police will not be involved since the university is prohibited by federal law from sharing student’s disciplinary records without a search warrant.

He said it is not clear that the people were aware the photo was being taken, which could be a violation of privacy and sexual misconduct.

If the photo is determined to be against the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities, Gillilan said the consequences for the person who originally tweeted it could range from an official warning to expulsion from the university, but it is too soon to tell.

Since the university announced the investigation, the @bsu_makeouts account has gained 84 more followers, even though the retweet was deleted. The Twitter account was created a couple weeks into the school year, mimicking one from last year that was taken down.

The account creator said she doesn’t feel as though the people in her photos are easily identifiable.

“I am going to be a little more careful about some of the pictures [and] make sure they are just make outs, not anything more,” she said.

She said she also will tweet letting people know that if they would like their picture taken down from her feed, they can direct message her an ask.

Since the investigation, she also has been careful to erase captions that accompany the original photos if they are too inappropriate.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” she said. “They should be ready to have a picture of them taken if it’s out in public.”

Even though she is not under investigation, the creator of the @bsu_makeouts does not want to release her identity.

“I think its more ... mysterious that way, so people aren’t coming up to me and asking me to tweet something about me or something like that,” she said.

Gillilan said students should consider their futures before taking pictures of their classmates or having their photo taken.

“It’s important that people looking forward that all of this stuff could have significant negative impacts on their career,” he said. “It could be devastating if somebody did come across something like that. The person who took the picture and subjects of the pictures and all of those folks could be affected down the road.”