Deputy Returning Officer’s Ruling on use of undergrad_su and postgrad_su Instagram accounts - 24th October 2025
I have been asked to rule on whether sabbatical officers campaigning in next week’s referendums are allowed to use their @undergrad_su and @postgrad_su Instagram accounts for campaigning purposes.
For the avoidance of doubt, this ruling does not concern whether Sabbatical officers are able to campaign in the upcoming referendums, which I am satisfied they are, in line with By-Law 9, Articles 2.5 and 2.6:
- 2.5. Members of the Executive Committee engaging in campaigning activity in referendums may only do so in accordance with their existing democratic mandates.
- 2.6. For the avoidance of doubt, where no relevant existing mandate exists, members of the Executive Committee may campaign as they see fit.
The Instagram accounts @undergrad_su and @postgrad_su are personally run by the relevant sabbatical officers. They are not managed by the SU Communications team. They are designed to give the sabbatical officers a personal platform asides from their own Instagram accounts, which they are encouraged to set to private.
However, the framing of these accounts as “Cambridge SU Undergrads”, the handle of @undergrad_su and the About “Undergraduate account run by the sabbatical officers” (and likewise with the postgrad account) leads me to see these accounts as institutional accounts rather than personal accounts. A student who stumbles across this account would be well placed to assume that the posts on that account are the position of Cambridge SU. In their current form, my ruling is that the accounts must not be used for campaigning purposes.
I have further considered whether changes could be made to the framing of the accounts to mitigate this, such as changing the name to “Cambridge SU Sabbs” and archiving certain previous collaboration posts with the @yourcambridgesu account. However, 2,500 followers is not an insignificant resource (particularly considering that the referendum requires 2000 voters to be quorate) and many people will have followed the account under previous sabbatical officer teams, or because it was linked to from the SU page or was promoting SU activities. The account is passed down to future sabbatical officer teams, meaning that I consider these Instagram accounts to be a “union resource” which sabbatical officers have access to by virtue of their Cambridge SU positions, with other campaign leads and campaigners not having similar access.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, not all sabbatical officers are necessarily taking a position on either or both of the referendum questions with individuals able to adopt their own positions in line with the by-laws above.
My ruling is therefore that even with changes to the account, the @undergrad_su and @postgrad_su accounts would be considered institutional accounts and not to be used for campaigning purposes.
Minor Additional Ruling - 23rd October 2025
I have also been asked to make a brief ruling surrounding weekly bulletins which are sent to all students and whether sabbatical officers who plan to campaign or are campaign leads can sign these. These bulletins contain weekly updates including promoting next week’s referendum. The bulletin contains Cambridge SU’s neutral position, encouraging students to vote and linking to the page where the SU explain what a Yes or No vote would mean for each question. I am satisfied these are neutral, and being signed by the Presidents as representatives of Cambridge SU. The emails do not contain campaign material. My ruling is that the Presidents of Cambridge SU can sign the bulletins issued on 23rd October 2025.