The Philippine Online Chronicles

A ban on campus access to social networking site Facebook has drawn opposition from students and some faculty members of Ateneo de Davao University who even staged a picket in front of campus gates last week.

One of the students interviewed by GMANews.tv said there was no proper student consultation regarding the Facebook ban policy of the university. Studens also complained that they were required to pay more than P1,300 as “information technology fee” each semester.

Ateneo de Davao’s officials explained that the restriction to Facebook access is imposed to give priority to university’s online services, as the sheer number of those who access the social networking site on campus heavily burdens the university’s internet service bandwidth.

“Most of our books are not really physically in the library. It’s online, they [students] can read these books while they are inside the campus," Assistant to the President of Ateneo de Davao University Jeremy Eliab said in a GMANews.tv report.

Eliab said it would be impossible to download the books if Facebook is eating the bandwidth.

School officials also clarified that the ban takes effect from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. only.

Some faculty members also protested the university’s policy as they issued an open letter following the official announcement of the ban.

“The College Faculty Union of Ateneo de Davao University (CFU) vehemently protests the blocking of social networking sites such as Facebook and Friendster, including other sites. The blocking is initiated by the Technical Service Office (TSO) of the university, as the internet site claims to be [sic]. This infringes on the freedom of information and of expression which requires thorough discussion beforehand to determine what constitutes a violation or not. The CFU will file grievance as initial and LEGAL response directed to the head of TSO," the faculty members said in the letter.

Last week, state-run University of Southern Mindanao imposed a similar ban on school personnel from accessing Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites during office hours.

University officials said in a Sunstar.com report that the order was issued as some personnel were caught accessing social networking sites and even playing games during work hours.