The Spotted McGill accounts for Upper Residences, Royal Victoria College (RVC), La Citadelle, and Campus 1 have been taken down.
On October 2, Shiane Johnson–the Residence Life Manager for Douglas Hall, University Hall, and RVC–sent out an email addressing harassment on Instagram from Spotted McGill accounts specific to traditional housing residences.
“Many of these posts constitute sexual harassment and online bullying. The Residence Life team proactively identified the issue through regular social media monitoring,” states McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO), elaborating that the accounts were taken down soon after.
Most of these posts violate Article 10 of the McGill Student Conduct Code, according to Johnson, as well as McGill’s Policy Against Sexual Violence, which was established in 2016.
“I have had several residents come to me in extreme distress in recent days over the graphic sexual nature of the posts targeting them in particular,” says Johnson.
MRO states McGill did not receive any direct complaints.
“Those who interact with these posts are perpetrating and promoting sexual harassment and online bullying,” states Johnson, adding that those who engage with posts may face disciplinary action.
According to MRO, “Confession-style pages are a recurring concern, and McGill’s Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) continues to monitor for their reappearance.”
In an interview with The Bull and Bear, Spotted Campus 1 stated they had faced no issues with McGill, explaining “We think it could be because C1 isn’t a McGill specific res, or because we make sure not to post anything with identifiable information (room numbers or descriptions). A few weeks ago, we did post a room number specific and the guy dm’d us to take it down. We did and haven’t posted similarly since.” However, since then, the account has been taken down.
The original Spotted McGill account stated to The Bull and Bear that they have no relationship with residence-specific Spotted accounts.
Additionally, they said they have not encountered any problems relating to harassment charges or the take down of accounts. To prevent issues, they stray away from posting specific names–unless they are “generally unidentifiable” ones–and “anything that could be considered harmful to others.”
For those who require support, the MRO suggests reaching out to the Office of the Dean of Students, the Office for Mediation and Reporting (OMR) or the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (OSVRSE), which “offers confidential, trauma-informed support.”
“McGill continues to engage students, staff, and faculty in ongoing education and dialogue around boundaries, consent, and accountability. These efforts are part of the university’s broader commitment to fostering a respectful and safe campus environment for all members of the community,” states the MRO.
