A well-qualified high school graduate was allegedly rejected by a prestigious college for merely following Infowars founder Alex Jones on Twitter, says attorney Bradley Shear.
Shear says his 17-year-old client was fiercely questioned by the college’s admissions director, not about his stellar grades and extracurriculars, but about his “transgression” of following the controversial host on social media. “My client had never ‘liked’ or re-tweeted any of Mr. Jones’ content,” said the attorney. “His alleged ‘transgression’ was that he followed Mr. Jones on Twitter. That was it.”
According to a College Fix report, the college agreed to a settlement with the student to bypass any negative press. Shear has declined to name the school or his client.
Highlighting the alleged bias, Shear noted that the admissions director was a fan of Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and followed other far-left groups on social media.
“While I am not a listener or supporter of Mr. Jones, his audience has every right to watch his videos and listen to him and connect with him online since we live in a free country,” wrote Shear in a blog post. “Unfortunately, some college admissions officials believe that applicants who connect with him online regardless of whether they believe Mr. Jones’ theories should not be provided an opportunity to attend the country’s most prestigious higher education institutions.”
A search and weaponization of prospective students’ personal social media accounts is commonplace, warns Shear. Another client of his, for example, was allegedly deprived of a $250,000 scholarship offer by a top school over a Facebook emoji and “like” concerning the 2016 presidential election.
“This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue; but an issue regarding the future of our country,” he told the Fix.
Shear is currently advocating for laws which would prevent such social media tracking by colleges and universities.