“Offensive and discriminatory” chats left on a Durham Freshers WhatsApp group

By Milly Moore and Finn Watton

Content Warning: offensive language

Offensive chats, such as one which said that Adolf Hitler was “too lenient”, were left on a Durham Freshers WhatsApp group including over 500 prospective Durham University students.

The Whatsapp community, named ‘Durham Scammer Free 2026’, has various sub-groups, including one titled ‘Hinge and Dating’, which is where the comment on Adolf Hitler was made. The community is unaffiliated with the University, and is moderated by prospective Durham students.

This comment was reportedly made in relation to a message from another member, reading, “Hitler liked the english for some reason he let us keep english”. 

Replying to the message that Hitler was “too lenient”, a separate member of the ‘Hinge and Dating’ sub-group said that the message should be pinned, to which it was subsequently pinned by a group admin.

On another sub-group of the same community, ‘sad lonely politics circle…’ , a poll questionnaire with an option labelled ‘All hail epstein’ was created and voted on by two members of the group chat. 

On this same sub group chat, the member who wrote the “too lenient” message, sent a message in another conversation, “I agree. And objectively women can’t be priests.” to which another member responded “fair enough man i respe[c]t it”. 

In a separate sub-group chat, named ‘Discussing politics’, members commented on the ethnic background of other member’s names, a member whose name was being discussed replied “parents born here”, to which another member replied “Fly Born in a horse stable ain’t a horse is it”. 

In a separate sub-group chat, named ‘Discussing politics’, members commented on the ethnic background of other member’s names

At the time of publication of this article, the ‘sad and lonely politics circle…’ group chat and the ‘Hinge and Dating’ group chat have been removed/renamed, while other group-chats including the ‘Discussing Politics’ group chat still remain up and accessible. 

Following these messages, one member wrote in the ‘Main chat’: “lowk js burn the politics chat” and “that sh*t is a cesspit and a circlejerk simultaneously”.

In response a group chat admin replied “ We[‘]ve already got rid of hinge one and we[‘]ve had complaints”, referring to the ‘Hinge and Dating’ sub-group chat.

In reference to this chat, the same admin wrote “ yeah it just kinda went of[f] the rails (partially my fault im far too lenient an admin)”. In response to this message a member of the ‘Main chat’ wrote “and maybe you shouldn’t have pinned a message saying hitler was too lenient”. 

“and maybe you shouldn’t have pinned a message saying hitler was too lenient”

member of ‘Durham Scammer Free 2026’ WhatsApp ‘Mainchat’

The admin responded “I was too lenient with it. I was going to remove it but someone wanted it pinned” and followed up by writing “yeah i know its been discussed in the admin group. I dont delete thi[ngs] when i should.”

The same admin wrote on the ‘Main chat’ “someone said hitler was too lenient on english language, i pinned it, then he insulted someone else and hence the hinge group has been purged and we[‘]re trying to deal with it now”.

A separate group chat admin wrote on the ‘Main chat’, saying “There were some comments made that were unacceptable on the hinge and dating group. 

“This type of group had been originally denied in the past and was added again by a different admin, so it was kept up as we didn’t want to purge groups so quickly. With this incident, it was the final straw and the group was gotten rid of.”

Responding to this reporting, a spokesperson for the ‘Durham Scammer Free 2026’ Admin Team told Palatinate,

“We condemn the offensive and discriminatory material identified in these chats. The decision by a single administrator to pin one of the messages was a serious error of judgement that gave those comments greater prominence.

“The wider admin team recognises that this should not have happened and apologises unreservedly for the impact that this has had on all involved.

“The member who posted the message was initially given a formal warning and, when evidence emerged that this was not an isolated incident, was swiftly removed from the community. The relevant messages were deleted, and a report was submitted to Durham University.

“The administrator who pinned the message has now been removed from the admin team, and the remaining administrators have agreed clearer, stronger arrangements for handling serious incidents promptly and consistently ensuring actions of this kind are not platformed again.”

“The decision by a single administrator to pin one of the messages was a serious error of judgement that gave those comments greater prominence”

WHatsapp admin team spokesperson

A Durham University spokesperson told Palatinate, “This informal WhatsApp group has nothing whatsoever to do with Durham University. 

“It was set up by an individual, or groups of individuals, who are wholly responsible for what is posted, commented on and moderated.”

Speaking on the messages in that chat, the spokesperson said, “We were recently made aware of comments made on that group. We have looked into it and have taken appropriate action in line with our published procedures. We would not comment further on an individual case. 

“Durham University supports and promotes lawful free speech and respectful behaviours. We do not tolerate racism, hate speech or prejudice.  

“We make it very clear to all prospective and current students our expectations for behaviour before they join us and while they are students here.  

“We urge our community to report any incidents of racism, hate speech or prejudice to us or, where appropriate, the police, so they can be investigated and appropriate action taken.” 

Photography by: James Tillotson