Cancel culture is real

And here’s the proof...

“Cancel culture doesn’t exist!” is a mantra that we often hear from its most obstinate practitioners. In October 2022, the comedian and BBC presenter Graham Norton suggested that a better term for cancel culture would be “accountability”. But is it really fair to harass, defame and ruin people’s lives simply for expressing commonly held opinions? What exactly are they being held accountable for? A much better synonym for cancel culture was coined by the singer Nick Cave: “mercy’s antithesis”.

Given that the very existence of cancel culture is so often denied, I thought I would devote this Substack post to outlining precisely what is meant by “cancel culture” and why it matters so much for those of us who still care about liberal values. I’ll also address some of the most common misconceptions regarding the term, and provide a list of those who have faced “cancellation” with a brief overview of their supposed transgressions. But let’s begin with the thorny question of definitions.

Most of us understand what cancel culture means, but perhaps it might be more instructive to consider what it is not. If someone criticises you for something you’ve said or done, that’s not cancel culture; that’s free speech. If someone blocks you on social media, that’s not cancel culture; someone has merely decided you’re not worth listening to and is exercising his or her freedom to ignore you. If you have not been invited to speak at a certain event, that’s not cancel culture; no-one is entitled to a platform.

What “cancel culture” actually means is a form of public shaming or harassment, often for relatively minor mistakes or unfashionable opinions. It’s the difference between criticising someone for something they’ve said or done, or systemically attempting to see their reputation and livelihood obliterated. Cancel culture is not criticism, it’s denunciation. It’s contacting employers and demanding that people are fired because you don’t agree with what they’ve said. It’s spreading lies about them online so that their future work prospects are diminished. In other words, it’s a hugely disproportionate and vindictive form of revenge dressed up in the guise of virtue.