What is cancel culture? Thanks for asking!
Cancel culture is the popular practice of withdrawing support for an individual or company, to such an extent that they become irrelevant as a result. This is usually due to something the person has done or said that is considered offensive. Cancel culture has become an effective tool for so-called social justice movements, with feminist, antiracist and LGBTQ+ activists incr easingly adopting the tactic. It tends to involve the use of social media to call for a boycott of an individual, who may or may not be a public figure. This online shaming can include fair criticism, insulting and harassment to destroy the person’s reputation. Many have suggested that cancel culture has now gone too far, including former US President Barack Obama.
Well, internet users can be very sensitive can’t they? One clumsy tweet and social media goes into a frenzy!
And it’s not just present-day tweets that are used as justification for “cancelling” someone. In some cases, posts from many years ago have been dug up, screenshotted and shared all over the internet. The term “clicktivists” is used mostly in a negative way to label those who use social media to shame others online, mainly to boost their own egos. In July 2020, a group of 150 activists, writers and academics called for an end to cancel culture. Part of their open letter, which was published in Harper’s Bazaar magazine, reads as follows: “The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.” J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood were among those to put their name to the letter.
Cancel culture is all the rage at the moment, isn’t it?! In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!
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