256 Ethics in Higher Education: Values-driven Leaders for the Future
when it comes to responding with acumen and agility to
emerging threats and opportunities.- A lack around the identification and monitoring of current and
emerging trends in social media, which militates against the
proactive management thereof.
14.4 Conclusion
Social Media is a newly developing area of law, yet to be tested
comprehensively and conclusively in South Africa’s courts. This needs
to happen within the context of freedom of expression which a
cornerstone of South African democracy and higher education practice
in South Africa. Universities and other institutions in South Africa are
thus caught squarely in the middle, having to grapple with the tension
between regulating social media versus the right to free expression,
which by its very nature includes robust, critical and sometimes
uncomfortable contestation. While these are still nascent challenges in
South Africa, they are being dealt with around the world to a greater or
lesser extent. It therefore makes sense to pre-emptively put in place
measures such as clear, ethically-grounded social media policies, which
will promote and embed ethical social media conduct and practice.
Bearing in mind that social media also provides higher education with
the opportunity to communicate effectively and share information with
students (and for students to share information with each other) on a
hitherto unprecedented scale, responsible leadership in higher education
institutions in South Africa would be well served in the current context,
to revisit their governance and sustainability policies and processes to
ensure that this critical aspect of higher education leadership,
management and governance is embedded in every aspect of their
operations,