Opinion: It’s Finally Time: Let’s Cancel “Cancel Culture”
In just a few months, March of 2022, we will be arriving upon the 15th anniversary of the release of Twitter. This is a big milestone for one of the most popular social media platforms in our society. From musicians like Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) to political leaders like our own President of the United States, Joe Biden (@JoeBiden), Twitter is full of accounts that post frequently, updating their viewers of recent news and events as well as creating small comments to share bits and pieces of their lives.
Personally, I signed up for the app in March of 2017, just a couple months after I turned 14. It looked like a fun way to stay connected to celebrities' lives and view them from afar. On Twitter, and most other social media apps for that matter, it can even feel like we are part of the lives of our idols; liking their posts, commenting back to them, and retweeting information we see about them. It’s thrilling. But, is it possible that the use of platforms like Twitter are going a little too far?
As years have gone by and social media has grown, we have seen an enemy of social media emerge; something now commonly known as cancel culture. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, Cancel Culture is defined as "the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure" While this is partially accurate, I believe there is much more to this simple definition. Cancel culture isn’t just expressing disapproval anymore, it is using your platform in the hope of completely shutting down the fame and recognition of a certain person. It is used to shame a person for their wrongdoings and make sure they are never praised again. That is what canceled culture has become. That is its new purpose.
While it has occasionally been used for creating real change, the abuse and manipulation of social media, specifically on Twitter, has caused the idea of "cancel culture" to become a weapon in society.
Across the board, cancel culture has made its presence known. From pre-teens fighting over their favorite tv shows to adults arguing about politics, social media has been turned into a place of anger and blame. Nobody seems to be having logistical or intellectual conversations at this point. A majority of people are just spewing out information, whether it be right or wrong, and ignoring the other side. Change can’t happen this way. If we look back in history, we can see how issues and controversies should really be approached.
In 1859, English philosopher, John Stuart Mill, wrote On Liberty, an essay that discusses the liberty of the conscious. His essay goes into explanation about how silencing others is seen as an evil. Mill then goes on to explain that discussion and experience is a truly important way of learning and educating one another. In the paper, he is clearly stating that everyone has the right to their own opinion, but we should all listen to one another. People shouldn’t be silencing the words of others and just arguing with them. People should listen and discuss properly.
Mill wrote, “There is a class of persons (happily not quite so numerous as formerly) who think it enough if a person assents undoubtingly to what they think true, though he has no knowledge whatever of the grounds of the opinion, and could not make a tenable defence of it against the most superficial objections…The fact, however, is, that not only the grounds of the opinion are forgotten in the absence of discussion, but too often the meaning of the opinion itself.”
If people don’t listen to the opinions of others, there is no way of proving that they are right. It takes communication and discussion to build a full opinion. If you have nothing to compare your opinion to and never had it questioned, then you are just going to sink. I believe that people have an issue with listening to the opinions of others. They don’t want to be challenged or contradicted, so they state what they want and turn a blind eye. This is exactly what Mill thought was evil about society.
On Liberty gave me a lot to think about in regards to the modern era of social media. I believe that it is very likely that Mill would be strongly against cancel culture. With cancel culture, people don’t listen or discuss, they just ignore the other side and tear eachother apart. It's a downhill battle.
Last summer, in June of 2020, a young girl posted a tweet stating that well known Disney star, Joshua Bassett, had sexually assaulted her. She went into detail about how he had groped her in an alleyway after she came up to him saying she was a fan. Obviously, this sparked outrage from Bassett’s fans and audience as well as others who had just heard about it. People quickly took to the app and tweeted back at him. Understandably, they went on to tell him how what he did was awful and unfollowed him as soon as possible.
However, later, Basset (@joshuatbassett) tweeted out saying, “It has come to my attention that a now deactivated account has spread rumors about me regarding a fabricated encounter with a fan accusing me of sexual assault. This abhorrent rumor is absolutely false, and dangerous to actual victims with real stories. (1/2)” Adding to that thread he wrote, “I’m sick to my stomach that someone would recklessly perpetuate such defamatory claims. It is vital to respect all people’s boundaries at all times. Be kind and be good. (2/2)” Soon later, people would come to learn that the girl's tweet was completely false and she posted it as a “social experiment” to see what the fan reactions would be and what people would do if a beloved celebrity has actually done something so horrible.
Like Basset said in his own tweet, this was extremely dangerous for cases when real victims come forward about true stories. If people make up lies on the internet, we may come across a sort of “boy who yells wolf” type situation. It is easy to spread lies and misinformation through social media platforms. Anyone can do it. It makes issues like Joshua Bassett’s arise, and it could get worse. People could get angrier and cause real harm.
A girl who had been talking to the original poster came to twitter as well to share more information. She (@lesbianpillar) posted, “yeah hi so um grace dmed me. she made up the whole thing as a social experiment. i already told her off for how wrong it was to do this but please don’t forget that joshua has 2 other allegations against him. Im deleting the [screenshot] of her tweet and you guys should too bc false info.” The other two allegations that were mentioned in the tweet were just rumors that spread across the platform. There never actually were two other posts about Joshua Bassett sexually assaulting girls. It is extremely concerning and disheartening to see how easily false information and rumors like this spread.
Of course, if I were to see the first girl's post, I would hate Bassett too. But, even after it was confirmed that the story was fake, through screenshots with the original poster explaining it was a social experiment, people still came to Bassett’s page with anger. He was getting unfollows, angry critiques, and even death threats for something he didn’t do.
A major issue with cancel culture is the mob mentality that comes with it. People so easily latch on to each other and create a mass of comments and arguments. Once a person has created a single opinion they don’t look any other way, they just move forward with it. In the case of Joshua Bassett, people didn’t bother to actually stay updated, so they continued to tear Bassett down. They pushed and pushed. It’s incredibly dangerous.
Around the same time as Joshua Bassett’s “canceling” came another major “cancel” in the media, something possibly even bigger. On June 6th, JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) tweeted, “if sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” This tweet, along with many others that Rowling posted, caused an uprising on not only twitter, but media as a whole. Articles were released, news stories were aired, and posts were put out. People were infuriated at the famous author for writing such hurtful things.
The tweets that JK Rowling was putting out were seen to be very transphobic and unthoughtful. She was showing to be very ignorant and blind of the fact that so many of her fans are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Another post by Rowling the same day said, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” I went on to read some of the comments underneath the post. Here are just a few of the responses:
@FosterPupz: “Hey, Jo. It’s 2020. Trans men also menstruate. It’s time you do some self reflection and grow a bit, huh?”
@zekerchief: “Hi! I’m a man! I menstrate! Stop being an asshole!”
@olivernashbb: “I’m a trans man and you broke my heart again. Harry is ashamed of you.”
@marylambersting: “What the actual fuck??? This is so disgraceful @jk_rowling. Of all the hills to die on, and for what reason? Trans women are women and they are fighting for their lives. When you push this trans exclusionary agenda, you make their lives infinitely more difficult. Shame on you.”
Rowling’s tweet was disregarding the lives of both trans men and trans women, acting like only “true” women had periods. She was completely shutting out the fact that some men have periods and some women do not.
Many fans reacted to her tweets saying they could no longer support her. Some said that they felt betrayed and hurt because she had created books with so many characters they related to just to see that the author didn’t actually support who they are. Rowling was criticized and ridiculed for what she posted.
You may be thinking, “Hey, this cancel culture actually did something good. JK Rowling did something wrong, and people called her out on it. It worked!” And yes, I agree with this, but what has really been done? As of December 21, 2021 (almost two years later), Rowling has 14 million twitter followers, 151 thousand instagram followers, and is still publishing books.
This is another problem that comes with the cancel culture; it is so rapid and quick, that nothing really can end up coming out of it. In the case of JK Rowling, when finally it seemed like something good was happening, it just became ignored. And, of course, many people still have issues with Rowling, but not enough is being done to create real change. So many people often like to say “I just have to separate the art from the artist”. I understand that, but Rowling didn’t even really apologize for her words, she just made excuses. She said that it all stemmed from her past abuse. While that is awful, it really has no connection to her transphobic tweets and doesn’t explain why she posted them. What was the use of all that “cancelling” if nothing would even come to change in the end?
Of course, cancel culture isn’t just for celebrities; it can happen to anyone. A now deleted tweet by writer and journalist, Will Wilkinson (@willwilkinson), originally posted in January of 2021, said, “If Biden really wanted unity, he’d lynch Mike Pence.” The responses were chaotic. Right-wing Hedge Fund manager, Gabe Hoffman, tweeted the next day. He wrote, “Hi @willwilkinson! Why did you call for former Vice President Mike Pence to be lynched? @nytimes,@katiekings, any comment on your "contributing opinion writer" calling for violence against a public official? @TwitterSafety & @SecretService should know.”
Things moved quickly from this point on. While to many, it seemed very obvious that Wilkinson's tweet was posted completely out of satire and he didn’t mean that Mike Pence should literally be lynched, many politically right leaning individuals were infuriated at such a comment. They took it very seriously. They claimed to believe that he was saying the vice president should really be lynched, which, in my opinion would just be an extreme thing to post about in reality.
Wilkinson informed everyone that the post was just satire with a tweet stating, “Last night I made an error of judgment and tweeted this. It was sharp sarcasm, but looked like a call for violence. That's always wrong, even as a joke. It was especially wrong at a moment when unity and peace are so critical. I'm deeply sorry and vow not to repeat the mistake.” But, it was too late.
Due to the many conservative trolls roaming the pages of Twitter and blaming Wilkinson for promoting violence with his tweet, things took a turn for the worse for him. Quickly, the Niskanen Center fired Wilkinson in regards to his recent post. In a statement by the center’s president, Jerry Taylor, it said, “The Niskanen Center appreciates and encourages interesting and provocative online discourse. However, we draw the line at statements that are, or can in any way be interpreted as, condoning or promoting violence.”
But, it could be clearly seen, especially after he stated it, that Wilkinson’s tweet was supposed to be comedic. He had no intention or care of actually promoting violence against Mike Pence. However, the twitter trolls got their way and practically ruined the life of an innocent person. They made sure to make their voices and opinions be seen, so that no one could let it go. I believe in their right to be angry or annoyed at Wilkinson, but taking it to such an extreme as to get him fired for this tweet is just too much. It makes me wonder if it is possible to get anyone fired for such simple issues. Especially through social media, it is easy to twist people's words or make it look like they meant something they really didn’t.
I understand that ending cancel culture as a whole is practically impossible. But, I do believe something major must be done about it. Through many cases, we can see that useful change isn’t being created through this mob-like use of media. People are too addicted to their devices and to their platforms. There is a thrill to getting reactions out of people. Our society seems to have a love of arguing and feeling like we are always in the right. Working on the issue will be a struggle, but there is a lot that can be done to at least improve what we can.
Rather than just spitting out “facts” at each other, people should try to have civil conversations. Listen to the other person’s point of view and respond calmly; provide them with information and your own opinions. Respectfully, let people know how what they did affected you and how it made you feel. These are the types of things that can educate people. We all must be critical and constructive without being hateful. Like John Stuart Mill wrote about in his essay, we should use our experiences and ideas to discuss with others. We should take their opinions into account and explain to them, rationally, what we believe they are doing wrong.
It is understandable that when someone posts something that is disrespectful and causes pain we want to instantly tell them why they are wrong. It is understandable that when we find out our favorite celebrity did something horrible we feel enraged. And, we are allowed to be. We are allowed to feel the mental bruises they inflict onto us. However, rather than pouring out our anger into a single post with no thought behind it, we have to take a second and use the tools around us and strive to educate those we are talking to. If more and more people start to make an effort to control and regulate cancel culture, then maybe something good can finally come out of it.
