While the posts have since been removed, Reels and image posts were reposted to the official Conservative Society Instagram page from 21 February to 28 March which have caused debate across campus and between societies.
Reels reposted included a video and audio of a speech made by Hitler, originally posted by an account dedicated to antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric, promoting Nazi ideology, and conspiracy theories. Each post from this account is captioned with a disclaimer that “This page … exists only to share knowledge and preserve historical understanding — never to glorify or endorse.”
The Socialist Society have made a public statement on their Instagram which “strongly condemns the recent online activity of the Newcastle Conservative Society” and claimed that the society “creates an unwelcoming and hostile environment for vulnerable minority individuals.”
Other posts shared to the Conservative Society Instagram Story suggesting that being LGBTQ+ is a mental illness (22 February), classist and misogynistic stereotypes about working-class women (24 February), and a vox pop of a woman marching at a protest commenting on the role of “ straight, white, conservative men” (29 March); the Conservative Society account added a caption to that Story, “The socialist society right now…????????????”. This immediately followed the Socialist Society’s post which criticised the Conservative Society’s online activity.
The Conservative Society later posted an apology on their Instagram Story, specifically relating to a Reel they shared on 21 February; it had featured Nazi and antisemitic content. They stated that the individual who shared said Reel had only watched the first minute, which featured a war veteran and JFK, not any part of the speech from Hitler. The last paragraph of the apology stated that “in a free society, we should be able to question gender ideology, trans ideology, every religion, and mass immigration... Doing so isn’t transphobic, islamophobic, white supremacist, etc”. When asked for comment, the Conservative Society told The Courier that “the back end of [the initial apology] was abhorrent and not realised at all”.
In both the initial apology and their statement to The Courier, the Conservative Society affirmed that “there is nothing that is against the law”, and that “it doesn’t resemble the opinions of the Conservative Society”.
This incident coincides with the Conservative Society’s bid to rename as Conservative and Reform Society; the society used this name and the Reform UK logo at the Clubs, Societies and Volunteering Fair but have since stopped using it in an official capacity after stating on Instagram “half of [their] members are Tory oriented and half are Reform” and that an EGM would be planned. There have been no further updates, and this bid has not yet been allowed, but The Courier are aware that they have formally applied for the name change.
If you have been impacted by any of the issues raised in this article, please reach out for support. The Newcastle University Student Health & Wellbeing Service has support dedicated to students and staff impacted by discrimination and hate incidents. You can find more information here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/wellbeing/our-support/discrimination-hate/