AN SNP councillor who used social media to brand Wings Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell “toxic” and “scum” has avoided suspension.
However, Fatima Joji, a Westhill and District councillor in Aberdeenshire, was censured by the Standards Commission for her comments.
Campbell alleged that Joji’s posts breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, specifically paragraph 3.1 that states councillors must treat everyone “with courtesy and respect”, even when using social media.
The complaint came before watchdogs on Monday.
Panel members had to decide whether Joji was acting in her capacity as a councillor, and whether her comments breached the code.
The SNP member was not present at the online hearing, but she was represented by solicitor Scott Martin.
Last July, Campbell tweeted about the then-Conservative party leadership candidate Kami Badenoch.
He stated Badenoch was a “young black female working-class immigrant” and could be a good candidate for the Conservative leadership.
Joji shared the post, writing: “I thought this clown was against identity politics.”
The hearing was told that Joji went on to claim that Campbell had harassed members of the SNP party who are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Joji added that Campbell was “advocating for a Tory that pushes right wing policies from the economy to immigration”, leading him to respond: “You're really worryingly dense.”
Joji wrote back: “You’re really worryingly hypocritical scum.”
Campbell later argued that he had been saying Badenoch was a good choice from a Tory perspective, but that he did not support her.
Joji also updated her Twitter biography with a sentence which read “Stu Campbell is toxic”, the hearing was told.
Campbell then published a blog post titled “A Little Respect” which included screenshots of the tweets from the Aberdeenshire councillor, who he labelled “hyperwoke”.
The post read: “The tweets were part of an extended tirade objecting to a tweet thread I’d posted about Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch.”
In response to the report, Joji acknowledged that she had violated the councillors’ code.
She said: “I understand my use of language such as ‘scum’ and ‘toxic’ have contravened the code.
“It was not acceptable to use the language I did as an elected representative.”
But Joji argued she wasn’t acting in her role as a councillor while posting the tweets in question.
She claimed that the tweets were made during the council’s summer recess and while she was on her lunch break at her other job.
However, the standards commission agreed she was acting as a councillor as the messages were made through her public social media account.
Panel members noted that Joji had been subjected to abuse, but believed her comments were “entirely inappropriate”.
The Westhill councillor faced suspension or even disqualification from her local authority role.
However the panel agreed to let Joji off lightly with a censure.
This means the Standards Commission has formally recorded its “severe and public disapproval” of her actions.
The decision will not affect her role as an Aberdeenshire councillor.
