Propaganda Dictionary – Cancel Culture

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The term “cancel culture” refers to a phenomenon prevalent in the first half of 2020 that is an online action that calls for mass condemnation / boycott / stigmatization of individuals, consequently losing their status, influence and position in society.

Often people fall victim to “canceling” because of their views, opinions or even mere misused words. Such an action seeks to give the impression that “good” activists are fighting “evil”, even though it is nothing more than ordinary cyberbullying.

“Canceling” a person is part of a larger concept of “online stigmatization”, which includes, for example, doxing, the act of publicly revealing previously private personal information about an individual or organization.

Analyst Peeter Koppel was one of the first to use the term in Estonian. He writes, “The reason for a person’s ‘canceling’ may be, for example, an arbitrary (conscious?) interpretation of his words to the detriment of the person, or, for example, the application of today’s (and ever-changing) standards to a person’s historical past activities or opinions.”

Laura Vilbiks, a political science student at the University of Tartu, has thoroughly written about the culture of cancelling. She formulated three main problems of the cancel culture:

1. Public stigmatization on social media has had quite a social impact and has turned so many previously respected people to be despised and go underground.
2. Unlike normal boycotting, cancelling seeks the complete expulsion of a person from society without giving them a second chance.
3. People who share their opinions in public are constantly under increased scrutiny and can easily be subjected to an attack of shaming.

Also called call-out culture or outrage culture, the attacks typically start with one or two individuals volubly expressing their ire over whatever issue is upsetting them. These responses are then released onto social media (again, frequently Twitter) where they are amplified exponentially by others responding, not to the original issue necessarily, but rather to the outrage of the initial attacker.

The “canceling” occurs when the level of outrage against the alleged offender rises to the point where that person’s life and reputation are actually harmed. This is a frequent problem for celebrities, whose mistakes and utterances from decades ago are dredged up and thrown back in their faces, causing fans to stop supporting them and their projects.

That’s one of the biggest problems with cancel culture: Those who practice it see themselves as “progressive activists” who are taking the fight straight to the peopleand cramming it down their throats. They believe that this kind of activity is the only way to enact change right now and that’s where the sticking point is. The disenfranchised, tired of being stepped on, want an entire culture to accommodate them immediately. They see social media as a tool to force their point of view on a society that hasn’t come to terms yet with those views.

Calling cancel culture “activism” is to overlook some very salient points. Humiliation is not a driver of social change; it is a method of keeping people in line with society’s values, whatever they may be. In order for it to work, that society has to be in agreement about what is acceptable and what is not. And we’re simply not in agreement yet.

Additionally, what is the issue of agenda, i.e. what is the motivation behind calling-out individuals? It is very easy to hide behind a cloak of “progressive activism” in order to cover up the fact that all you’re really doing is bullying someone whose beliefs differ from yours.

And then there are the overlooked and underhanded benefits of launching a call-out campaign. Those who initiate the first strikes against the target individual, gain tremendous notoriety for their efforts. Their posts are looked at, followed, shared, and commented on; their websites and Twitter handles gain huge followings, which benefit them materially in addition to boosting their influence. They are inciting the online mobs to shame and even ruin the lives of those deemed to have committed thought crimes. This is gaslighting and it is propaganda.

Cancel culture is real and it’s a dangerous threat to a society that once prided itself on free speech and common civility.

"If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny,
then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries.

These libraries should be open to all — except the censor.

We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors.

For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty."

John F. Kennedy 

Propaganda Links

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Confusion as Propaganda

Religion as Propaganda

History as Propaganda

  Art as Propaganda

Cancel Culture  as Propaganda

 Social Media as Propaganda

 Memes as Propaganda