Central Bucks passes new social media policies following antisemitism complaint

The Central Bucks school board on Tuesday passed new policies governing student clubs and their social media use, after posts by a Muslim student group earlier this year were cited in a federal civil rights complaint accusing the district of tolerating antisemitism.

The policies, adopted unanimously, outline rules for “third-party social media accounts” designated by student clubs during the application process as their official accounts. While students create and maintain the accounts, they will be expected to involve the club’s faculty adviser when posting.

Club posts will be expected to focus on several topics: club activities, recruitment for new members, and members and their achievements.

And posts will be subject to the student code of conduct — which says discipline can be warranted for off-campus student expression that “materially and substantially disrupts the operations of the school,” or that administrators “reasonably anticipate” will have that effect.

It’s unclear to what extent the policies would curtail the type of messages that drew outrage from parents earlier this year, when the Muslim Student Association at Central Bucks West posted a prayer for Ramadan on Instagram that said “Oh Allah, deal with the usurping Jews and the treacherous Zionists.”

The club took that post down; its adviser said students had posted it accidentally and apologized “for not catching it.” But in another post that weekend that upset community members, the club shared a post from X that said “the birthplace of Jesus is being bombed on Easter.”

A federal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights accused the club and its adviser, Spanish teacher Youssef Abdelwahab, of seeking “to align the Christian and Muslim population against the Jewish/Israeli population by using ‘blood libel,’” a centuries-old false accusation claiming Jews murder Christians for ritual purposes.

Abdelwahab — who has faced accusations of antisemitism for anti-Israel posts on the Instagram account for his business, AragApparel — said earlier this year that students were “showing some empathy” to Christian Palestinians and not trying to single out Jewish students. Students in the club, who have partnered with Jewish students at Central Bucks West, have said they have been the targets of Islamophobia.

Abdelwahab said Wednesday evening that he believes the policy changes were demanded by some residents to silence minorities.

“This will not only impact the [Muslim Student Association] but many clubs that value and promote positive civic engagement and awareness of local and global issues,” he said. “It discourages students from learning about current events, constructive dialogue, and using critical thinking. These are vital skills needed for engendering productive and engaging global citizens of the 21st century.”

A district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday but previously said he “could not speculate on how situations that occurred in the past may or may not have been affected” by then-proposed policy changes.

Central Bucks’ new superintendent, Steven Yanni, has said he wants to better define the boundaries of acceptable speech for students and staff, anticipating division around the forthcoming election.

“We all enjoy First Amendment freedoms, and while we enjoy those, they’re not absolute,” Yanni said in a recent interview, noting that the district can regulate speech disruptive to the school environment. “So many times, drama ensues just because people don’t know where the line is.”