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How do we think about cancel culture? How do we think about cancel culture?
Cancel culture is critical for democracy Cancel culture is critical for democracy
Cancel culture is a myth Cancel culture is a myth
Cancel culture must be cancelled Cancel culture must be cancelled
There's no such thing as cancel culture There's no such thing as cancel culture
Cancel culture redresses systemic oppression Cancel culture redresses systemic oppression
Cancel culture is being weaponised by a privileged elite Cancel culture is being weaponised by a privileged elite
Cancel culture is a valuable form of protest that asks society to prioritize justice for victims over perpetrators’ comfort Cancel culture is a valuable form of protest that asks society to prioritize justice for victims over perpetrators’ comfort
Cancel culture typifies the snowflake mentality Cancel culture typifies the snowflake mentality
Cancel culture represents a shift in public accountability Cancel culture represents a shift in public accountability
Cancel culture is a byproduct of smart technology Cancel culture is a byproduct of smart technology
Cancel culture may not be widespread. Cancel culture may not be widespread.
Cancel culture discourages dialogue and creates a climate of fear Cancel culture discourages dialogue and creates a climate of fear
Cancel culture is an insidious form of virtue signalling Cancel culture is an insidious form of virtue signalling
Cancel culture exists to promote a ruthless mob mentality Cancel culture exists to promote a ruthless mob mentality
Cancel culture is rooted in the ethics of white supremacy Cancel culture is rooted in the ethics of white supremacy
Cancel culture endangers democracy and freedom of expression Cancel culture endangers democracy and freedom of expression
Cancel culture represents a crisis where free speech is silenced Cancel culture represents a crisis where free speech is silenced
Cancel culture incorrectly assumes that morality is binary Cancel culture incorrectly assumes that morality is binary
Cancel culture strengthens the surveillance state Cancel culture strengthens the surveillance state
'Cancel Culture' needs to be properly defined 'Cancel Culture' needs to be properly defined
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How do we think about cancel culture?
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Cancel culture must be cancelled

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Cancel culture strengthens the surveillance state

Cancel culture is a form of ideological policing. Social media has reduced privacy. Simultaneously, trust in the state is being fast eroded. Truth is increasingly elusive in our news, our media and our politics. This crisis of authenticity, and what to believe, means there is no longer a set of agreed upon facts about how to engage with each other, or draw conclusions from what we see. The combination of these two factors has turned us all into informants. In this case, cancel culture is a survival strategy. One built on individual performance of the surveillance state. Proponents include author Kat Rosenfield and key figures in the left wing press including New Republic reporter Osita Nwanevu.
Donald Trump
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The Argument

Cancel Culture is harmful to society as it instills fear in those who oppose the masses and has resulted in the forming of a surveillance state.[1]Cancel Culture is the name given to a recent trend in society to shame, verbally attack, and exclude those who either disagree with a certain commonly held belief, or take part in an ethically questionable act. [2] In an era where social media is many people’s main source of news, and information can be spread to millions in just seconds, many believe that Cancel Culture is growing into a disturbing movement. For fear of becoming a target, many people, regardless of how ignorant they are on the subject, feel they must weigh [3]. This has turned society into a surveillance state, people will dig through years upon years of tweets, posts, and pictures to find something problematic to display to the world. Cancel Culture has removed all privacy, and denied any forgiveness, it is the relinquishment of power from the hands of individuals, to that of the uninformed mob.

Counter arguments

Many believe that Cancel Culture is not the sign of the declining values of freedom of speech but simply society at large grouping together to exercise their rights, much like a boycott. Anne Charity Hudley, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara stated that Cancelling was " a way to acknowledge that you don’t have to have the power to change structural inequality...But as an individual, you can still have power beyond measure [online]”. [1] Hudley and many others believe that instead of a thoughtless mob, bent on destroying free speech, Cancel Culture is simply a collective group of progressives exercising their rights over a digital platform.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.procon.org/headlines/is-cancel-culture-or-callout-culture-good-for-society/
  2. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate
  3. https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/in-ya-where-is-the-line-between-criticism-and-cancel-culture
This page was last edited on Tuesday, 15 Sep 2020 at 00:11 UTC

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