Professor Virginia Mantouvalou featured on the BBC World’s Service Business Daily podcast

Professor Virginia Mantouvalou (Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law at UCL Laws) was interviewed for the Business Daily podcast on 16 March 2021, where she warned how social media platforms should not be viewed as “safe space” to express whatever views we wish. She discusses cases where people have lost their jobs as a result of sharing inflammatory social media posts – even if the content in question was not intended to be offensive.

“It’s very worrying to think that things that are not prohibited – speech that is free – can still cost you your job; you may lose your job for expressing views that your employer may simply dislike. But the employer should not be the moral arbiter of our character.”

Professor Mantouvalou also discussed the reasons employers may dismiss somebody over their social media activity, such as potential reputational damage; and that some employers may use this as an excuse when wanting to dismiss an employee for an entirely different reason.

Listen to the podcast episode on the BBC Sounds website now (Professor Mantouvalou is featured from approximately 07:00).