cancel culture

The 1981 Chic album Take It Off includes the song "Your Love Is Cancelled", which compares a breakup to the cancellation of TV shows. The song was written by Nile Rodgers following a bad date Rodgers had with a woman who expected him to misuse his celebrity status on her behalf. "Your Love Is Cancelled" inspired screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper to include a reference to a woman being canceled in the 1991 film New Jack City. This usage introduced the term to African-American Vernacular English, where it became more common.{{cite web |last=Webster |first=Elizabeth N. |date=2021-12-24 |title=Cancel Culture Will Not Be Canceled |url=https://medium.com/afrosapiophile/cancel-culture-will-not-be-canceled-22d46f0829c6 |access-date=2022-03-03 |work=AfroSapiophile}}

By 2015, the concept of canceling had become widespread on Black Twitter to refer to a personal decision, sometimes seriously and sometimes in jest, to stop supporting a person or work.{{cite news |last1=McGrady |first1=Clyde |title=The strange journey of 'cancel,' from a Black-culture punchline to a White-grievance watchword |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/cancel-culture-background-black-culture-white-grievance/2021/04/01/2e42e4fe-8b24-11eb-aff6-4f720ca2d479_story.html |access-date=April 10, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 2, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Mishan |first=Ligaya |title=The Long and Tortured History of Cancel Culture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/t-magazine/cancel-culture-history.html |access-date=April 10, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 3, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Romano |first1=Aja |title=Why we can't stop fighting about cancel culture |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate |access-date=April 10, 2021 |work=Vox |date=August 25, 2020}} According to Jonah Engel Bromwich of The New York Times, this usage of the word "cancellation" indicates "total disinvestment in something (anything)".{{Cite news |last=Bromwich |first=Jonah Engel |date=June 28, 2018 |title=Everyone Is Canceled |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/style/is-it-canceled.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813135512/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/style/is-it-canceled.html |archive-date=August 13, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite journal |last=D. Clark |first=Meredith |title=Drag Them: A brief etymology of so-called "cancel culture" |journal=Communication and the Public |date=2020 |volume=5 |issue=3–4 |pages=88–92 |doi=10.1177/2057047320961562|doi-access=free }} After numerous cases of online shaming gained wide notoriety, the use of the term "cancellation" increased to describe a widespread, outraged, online response to a single provocative statement, against a single target.{{cite web |last1=McDermott |first1=John |title=Those People We Tried to Cancel? They're All Hanging Out Together |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/style/what-is-cancel-culture.html |access-date=July 29, 2021 |date=November 2, 2019}} Over time, as isolated instances of cancellation became more frequent and the mob mentality more apparent, commentators began seeing a "culture" of outrage and cancellation.{{cite news |last=Douthat |first=Ross |title=10 Theses About Cancel Culture |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/opinion/cancel-culture-.html |access-date=July 29, 2021 |date=July 14, 2020}}

In October 2017, sexual assault allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein led to the cancellation of his projects, his expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and legal consequences, including a conviction on charges of rape and sexual assault. These events contributed to the rise of the #MeToo movement, where individuals shared their own allegations of sexual assault, leading to the cancellation of the careers of those accused.{{cite web |last=Francescani |first=Chris |author2=Margolin, Josh |author3=Katersky, Aaron |title=Timeline: Harvey Weinstein's path to his NYC sex crimes conviction and reversal |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-harvey-weinsteins-path-york-city-rape-sexual/story?id=67708458 |website=ABC News |date=April 26, 2024 |access-date=February 15, 2025}} In November 2017, comedian Louis C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct allegations and, as a result, his shows were canceled, distribution deals were terminated, and he was dropped by his agency and management. After a period away from show business, Louis C.K. returned to work in 2018 and won a Grammy award in 2022. However, many people in the entertainment industry said that it was inappropriate to support his career or award him a Grammy due to his past misconduct.{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Louis C.K. Responds to Accusations: 'These Stories Are True' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-statement.html |website=The New York Times |date=November 10, 2017 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}{{cite web |last=Ryzik |first=Melena |title=Louis C.K.'s Grammy, After 'Global Amounts of Trouble,' Draws Backlash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/arts/television/louis-ck-grammy-backlash.html |website=The New York Times |date=April 5, 2022 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}

Conversations about "cancel culture" increased in late 2019.{{cite web |last1=Romano |first1=Aja |title=The second wave of "cancel culture" |url=https://www.vox.com/22384308/cancel-culture-free-speech-accountability-debate |work=Vox |date=May 5, 2021 |access-date=July 29, 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Reddy |first1=Vasu |last2=Andrews |first2=Donna |date=2021 |title=Cancel Culture: Shrinking or Remaking Narratives? (2022) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/835503 |journal=Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa |volume=106 |issue=1 |pages=130–132 |doi=10.1353/trn.2021.0026 |s2cid=239855465 |issn=1726-1368|url-access=subscription }} In the 2020s, the phrase became a shorthand nom de guerre employed by spectators to refer to what they perceived to be disproportionate reactions to politically incorrect speech. In 2020, Ligaya Mishan wrote in The New York Times:

"The term is shambolically applied to incidents both online and off that range from vigilante justice to hostile debate to stalking, intimidation and harassment. ... Those who embrace the idea (if not the precise language) of canceling seek more than pat apologies and retractions, although it's not always clear whether the goal is to right a specific wrong or redress a larger imbalance of power."{{cite news |last=Mishan |first=Ligaya |date=December 3, 2020 |title=The Long and Tortured History of Cancel Culture |work=T |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/t-magazine/cancel-culture-history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201204143436/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/t-magazine/cancel-culture-history.html |archive-date=December 4, 2020}}{{cite news |date=February 18, 2021 |title=Cancel culture: Have any two words become more weaponised? |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55959135 |access-date=March 22, 2021}}

"Call-out culture" has been in use as part of the #MeToo movement.{{Cite journal |last1=Mendes |first1=Kaitlynn |last2=Ringrose |first2=Jessica |last3=Keller |first3=Jessalynn |date=May 1, 2018 |title=#MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506818765318 |journal=European Journal of Women's Studies |language=en |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=236–246 |doi=10.1177/1350506818765318 |issn=1350-5068 |s2cid=149646504 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2381/41541}} The #MeToo movement encouraged women (and men) to call out their abusers on a forum where the accusations would be heard, especially against very powerful individuals.

An article written by Pippa Norris, a professor at Harvard University, states that the controversies surrounding cancel culture are between those who argue it gives a voice to those in marginalized communities and those who argue that cancel culture is dangerous because it prevents free speech and/or the opportunity for open debate. Norris emphasizes the role of social media in contributing to the rise of cancel culture.{{cite journal |last=Ng |first=Eve |date=2020-07-26 |title=No Grand Pronouncements Here...: Reflections on Cancel Culture and Digital Media Participation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1527476420918828 |journal=Television & New Media |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=621–627 |doi=10.1177/1527476420918828 |s2cid=220853829 |issn=1527-4764|url-access=subscription }} Additionally, online communications studies have demonstrated the intensification of cultural wars through activists that are connected through digital and social networking sites.{{cite journal |last1=Bouvier |first1=Gwen |last2=Machin |first2=David |date=2021-04-15 |title=What gets lost in Twitter 'cancel culture' hashtags? Calling out racists reveals some limitations of social justice campaigns |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926520977215 |journal=Discourse & Society |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=307–327 |doi=10.1177/0957926520977215 |s2cid=233279610 |issn=0957-9265|url-access=subscription }} Norris also mentions that the spiral of silence theory may contribute to why people are hesitant to voice their minority views on social media sites and fear that their views and opinions, specifically political opinions, will be chastised because their views violate the majority group's norms and understanding.{{cite journal |last=Norris |first=Pippa |date=2021-08-11 |title=Cancel Culture: Myth or Reality? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00323217211037023 |journal=Political Studies |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=145–174 |doi=10.1177/00323217211037023 |s2cid=238647612 |issn=0032-3217|url-access=subscription }}

In the book The Coddling of the American Mind (2018), social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, argue that call-out culture arises on college campuses from what they term "safetyism"{{mdash}}a moral culture in which people are unwilling to make tradeoffs demanded by the practical or moral concerns of others.{{cite book |last1=Haidt |first1=Jonathan |author-link1=Jonathan Haidt |last2=Lukianoff |first2=Greg |author-link2=Greg Lukianoff |title=The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-7352-2489-6 |location=New York City |oclc=1007552624 }} For safetyism, see {{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9-o6DwAAQBAJ&q=safetyism+call-out+culture | title = The Coddling of the American Mind | pages = 30, 158, 235, 268, 329| isbn = 978-0-7352-2490-2 | last1 = Lukianoff | first1 = Greg | last2 = Haidt | first2 = Jonathan | date = September 4, 2018 | publisher =Penguin Press}}{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Bradley|last2= Paresky |first2=Pamela |date=June 1, 2020 |title=Safetyism Isn't the Problem |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/opinion/safetyism-coronavirus-reopening.html |access-date=December 20, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web |date=June 15, 2020|title=Safetyism Isn't the Problem |url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/safetyism-isnt-the-problem.html |publisher=Association for Psychological Science|access-date=December 20, 2022}} Keith Hampton, professor of media studies at Michigan State University, contends that the practice contributes to political polarization in the United States but does not lead to changes in opinion.{{cite news |last=Agence France Presse |date=July 22, 2020 |title=La "cancel culture", nouvelle arme des anonymes et facteur de polarisation |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/07/22/la-cancel-culture-nouvelle-arme-des-anonymes-et-facteur-de-polarisation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727073137/https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/07/22/la-cancel-culture-nouvelle-arme-des-anonymes-et-facteur-de-polarisation |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |access-date=July 24, 2020 |work=Le Journal de Montréal |language=fr}} Cancel culture has been described by media studies scholar Eve Ng as "a collective of typically marginalized voices 'calling out' and emphatically expressing their censure of a powerful figure".{{cite journal |last=Ng |first=Eve |date=July 26, 2020 |title=No Grand Pronouncements Here ...: Reflections on Cancel Culture and Digital Media Participation |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1527476420918828 |volume=21 |issue=16 |pages=621–627 |doi=10.1177/1527476420918828 |access-date=February 12, 2021 |journal=Television and New Media |s2cid=220853829|url-access=subscription }} Cultural studies scholar Frances E. Lee states that call-out culture leads to self-policing of "wrong, oppressive, or inappropriate" opinions.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Frances E.|date=September 17, 2017 |title='Excommunicate me from the church of social justice': an activist's plea for change |work=The Sunday Magazine |publisher=CBC Radio |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-september-17-2017-1.4291332/excommunicate-me-from-the-church-of-social-justice-an-activist-s-plea-for-change-1.4291383}}{{cite web |title=Why I've Started to Fear My Fellow Social Justice Activists |url=https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2017/10/13/why-ive-started-to-fear-my-fellow-social-justice-activists |access-date=July 28, 2020 |website=Yes!}} According to Lisa Nakamura, University of Michigan professor of media studies, canceling someone is a form of "cultural boycott" and cancel culture is the "ultimate expression of agency", which is "born of a desire for control [as] people have limited power over what is presented to them on social media" and a need for "accountability which is not centralized".{{cite journal |last=Velasco |first=Joseph |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344772779 |title=You are Cancelled: Virtual Collective Consciousness and the Emergence of Cancel Culture as Ideological Purging |date=October 2020 |journal=Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities |volume=12 |issue=5 |publisher=Conference: 1st Rupkatha International Open Conference on Recent Advances in Interdisciplinary Humanities |doi=10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s21n2|s2cid=230647906 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Wei |first1=M. L. |last2=Bunjun |first2=Benita |date=October 21, 2020 |title='We are not the shoes of white supremacists': a critical race perspective of consumer responses to brand attempts at countering racist associations |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2020.1806907 |volume=36 |issue=13–14 |pages=1252–1279 |doi=10.1080/0267257X.2020.1806907 |issn=0267-257X |journal=Journal of Marketing Management |s2cid=226315082|url-access=subscription }}

Some academics have proposed alternatives and improvements to cancel culture. Clinical counsellor Anna Richards, who specializes in conflict mediation, says that "learning to analyze our own motivations when offering criticism" helps call-out culture work productively.{{Cite news |last=Matei |first=Adrienne |date=November 1, 2019 |title=Call-out culture: how to get it right (and wrong) |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/01/call-out-culture-obama-social-media |access-date=August 31, 2020 |issn=0261-3077}} Professor Joshua Knobe, of the Philosophy Department at Yale, contends that public denunciation is not effective, and that society is too quick to pass judgement against those they view as public offenders or personae non gratae. Knobe says that these actions have the opposite effect on individuals, and that it is best to bring attention to the positive actions in which most of society participates.{{cite magazine |last=Stein |first=J. |date=August 13, 2015 |title=I'm making the case for public shaming-unless you publicly shame me for doing so |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/3995794/im-making-the-case-for-public-shaming-unless-you-publicly-shame-me-for-doing-so/ |access-date=March 8, 2021}}

Former US Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia wrote in a 2021 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy article that cancel culture is a form of free speech, and is therefore protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. According to Scalia, cancel culture can interfere with the right to counsel, since some lawyers would not be willing to risk their personal and professional reputation on controversial topics.{{cite journal |last=Scalia |first=Eugene |date=2021 |title=John Adams, Legal Representation, and the 'Cancel Culture' |journal=Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=333–338 |id={{ProQuest| }}|url=https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2021/01/Scalia-Cancel-Culture.pdf}}

In 2023, American conservatives and anti-trans activists engaged in a boycott of Bud Light over its hiring of transgender TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney.{{cite web |last=Ulea |first=Anca |date=April 10, 2023 |title=Why are conservatives lashing out at Nike and Bud Light? |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/04/10/bud-light-and-nike-face-conservative-backlash-over-partnerships-with-trans-influencer-dyla |access-date=December 15, 2024 |website=Euronews |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416230637/https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/04/10/bud-light-and-nike-face-conservative-backlash-over-partnerships-with-trans-influencer-dyla |url-status=live }} The incident is seen an example of cancel culture and consumer backlash. The Harvard Business Review cited the incident as an example of an attempt to "resonate with younger, more socially-conscious audiences", but that it "generated downstream adjustments from retailers and distributors" that negatively hurt the product's performance. It highlighted the incident as making consumer brand marketing departments fearful of taking a stand on social issues.{{cite web |url=https://www.forrester.com/blogs/one-year-since-bud-lights-marketing-blunder-what-did-we-learn/ |title=One Year Since Bud Light's Marketing Blunder: What Did We Learn? |first1=Audrey |last1=Chee-Read |first2=Alex |last2=Schanne |date=April 2024 |accessdate=September 3, 2024}}{{cite journal |url=https://hbr.org/2024/03/lessons-from-the-bud-light-boycott-one-year-later |title=Marketing: Lessons from the Bud Light Boycott, One Year Later |first1=Jura |last1=Liaukonyte |first2=Anna |last2=Tuchman |first3=Xinrong |last3=Zhu |date=March 20, 2024 |journal=Harvard Business Review |accessdate=September 3, 2024}}

Ng defines cancel culture as "the withdrawal of any kind of support (viewership, social media follows, purchases of products endorsed by the person, etc.) for those who are assessed to have said or done something unacceptable or highly problematic, generally from a social justice perspective especially alert to sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, racism, bullying, and related issues."Ng 2020: 623. Ng, E. 2020. "No Grand Pronouncements Here... Reflections on Cancel Culture and Digital Media Participation." Television & New Media. 21(6): 621-627. There are different perspectives on the morality of cancellations. On the one hand, there is the view that cancel culture imposes punishments that are not proportional to the offenses or alleged offenses.See Norlock, Kathryn J. 2017. "Online Shaming." Social Philosophy Today 33: 187-197.[https://philpapers.org/archive/NOROS.pdf] See also Thomason, Krista. 2021. "The Moral Risks of Online Shaming," in Carissa Véliz, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 145-162. [https://philpapers.org/archive/THOTMR-4.pdf] This is closely related to John Stuart Mill's criticism of public shaming: he argued in On Liberty that society "practises a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself."Mill 1991: 9. Mill, J.S. 1991. On Liberty and Other Essays. Edited by Gray, J. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Martha Nussbaum similarly says that cancel culture represents the "justice of the mob," but this alleged justice is not "deliberative, impartial or neutral."See Nussbaum 2004: 234. Nussbaum, Martha. 2004. Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. On the other hand, there are those who defend the value of shaming as constructive, if done right; people who defend this view maintain that cancel culture often shames people counter-productively but that it can be tweaked or altered in order to be a valuable tool for people's improvement.See Campbell 2023. Campbell, Douglas R. 2023. "Cancel Culture, Then and Now: A Platonic Approach to the Shaming of People and the Exclusion of Ideas," Journal of Cyberspace Studies 7 (2):147-166.[https://philpapers.org/archive/CAMCCT-2.pdf] For instance, holding people accountable for things that they have done wrong can be a powerful way of correcting bad behavior, but it has to be paired with a belief in the possibility of redemption.See, again, Campbell 2023. People who take this approach often agree with Plato that shame is an important feeling that can lead to moral improvements.Plato's Gorgias is a key text in this case. See Tarnopolsky, C (2010). Prudes, Perverts, and Tyrants: Plato's Gorgias and the Politics of Shame. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Everyone in this debate agrees that it is important to avoid what Nussbaum calls a "spoiled identity": to have a spoiled identity is to have the public image of someone who is irredeemable and unwelcome in a community.See Nussbaum 2004: 230, 239.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The expression "cancel culture" has mostly negative connotations and is used in debates on free speech and censorship.{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Dalvin |date=July 17, 2020|title=Twitter's cancel culture: A force for good or a digital witchhunt? The answer is complicated. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/07/17/has-twitters-cancel-culture-gone-too-far/5445804002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724074528/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/07/17/has-twitters-cancel-culture-gone-too-far/5445804002/ |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=December 20, 2022}}{{cite web |date=July 21, 2020|title=Where Did Cancel Culture Come From? |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630232725/https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/ |archive-date=June 30, 2020 |website=Dictionary.com }}

In July 2020, former U.S. President Barack Obama criticized cancel culture and "woke" mentality on social media, saying: "people who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids and, you know, share certain things with you."{{Cite news|last=Bostock|first=Bill|date=October 30, 2019|title=Obama laid into young people being 'politically woke' and 'as judgmental as possible' in a speech about call-out culture |work=Business Insider|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-slams-call-out-culture-young-not-activism-2019-10|url-status=live|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723235259/https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-slams-call-out-culture-young-not-activism-2019-10|archive-date=July 23, 2020}} U.S. President Donald Trump criticized cancel culture in a speech in July 2020, comparing it to totalitarianism and saying that it is a political weapon used to punish and shame dissenters by driving them from their jobs and demanding submission. He was subsequently criticized as being hypocritical for having attempted to cancel a number of people and companies in the past himself.{{Cite web |last=Daniel Dale |title=A list of people and things Donald Trump tried to get canceled before he railed against 'cancel culture' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/fact-check-trump-cancel-culture-boycotts-firings/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728211425/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/fact-check-trump-cancel-culture-boycotts-firings/index.html |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=August 1, 2020 |publisher=CNN|date=July 7, 2020 }} Trump made similar claims during the 2020 Republican National Convention when he stated that the goal of cancel culture is to make decent Americans live in fear of being fired, expelled, shamed, humiliated, and driven from society.

Pope Francis said that cancel culture is "a form of ideological colonization, one that leaves no room for freedom of expression", saying that it "ends up cancelling all sense of identity".{{cite speech|author=Pope Francis|title=Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Members of the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/january/documents/20220110-corpo-diplomatico.html|work=Vatican.va|date=January 10, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Kington|first=Tom|title=Cancel culture is rewriting the past, warns Pope Francis|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/2c0ace6a-7271-11ec-89e9-22d3d9c31ba2?shareToken=9103cfde5abc3f5760e744db598ece7b|newspaper=The Times|date=January 11, 2022|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111060323/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/2c0ace6a-7271-11ec-89e9-22d3d9c31ba2?shareToken=9103cfde5abc3f5760e744db598ece7b|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Rocca|first=Francis X.|title=Pope Francis Denounces 'Cancel Culture' and Antivaccine 'Ideology'|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-denounces-cancel-culture-and-antivaccine-ideology-11641814583|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 10, 2022}} Patrisse Khan-Cullors, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, states that social activism does not just involve going online or going to a protest to call someone out, but is work entailing strategy sessions, meetings, and getting petitions signed. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak included cancel culture, where one group "are trying to impose their views on the rest of us", among the contemporary dangers of the modern world.Sunak, R., [https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-security-13-may-2024 PM speech on security: 13 May 2024], accessed 26 May 2024

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek states that, "cancel culture, with its implicit paranoia, is a desperate and obviously self-defeating attempt to compensate for the very real violence and intolerance that sexual minorities have long suffered. But it is a retreat into a cultural fortress, a pseudo-'safe space' whose discursive fanaticism merely strengthens the majority's resistance to it."{{cite web |title=Ethics on the Rocks |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ethical-decay-right-wing-violence-hate-left-wing-woke-cancel-culture-by-slavoj-zizek-2022-11 |work=Project Syndicate |date=November 22, 2022 |access-date=8 February 2024 }}

Lisa Nakamura, a professor at the University of Michigan, describes cancel culture as "a cultural boycott" and says it provides a culture of accountability. Meredith Clark, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, states that cancel culture gives power to disenfranchised voices. Osita Nwanevu, a staff writer for The New Republic, states that people are threatened by cancel culture because it is a new group of young progressives, minorities, and women who have "obtained a seat at the table" and are debating matters of justice and etiquette.{{Cite magazine |last=Nwanevu |first=Osita |date=2019-09-23 |title=The 'Cancel Culture' Con |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/155141/cancel-culture-con-dave-chappelle-shane-gillis |access-date=2022-03-04 |issn=0028-6583}}

{{main|A Letter on Justice and Open Debate}}

Dalvin Brown, writing in USA Today, has described an open letter signed by 153 public figures and published in Harper's Magazine as marking a "high point" in the debate on the topic. The letter set out arguments against "an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty".{{Cite magazine |date=July 7, 2020 |title=A Letter on Justice and Open Debate |url=https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723175921/https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |magazine=Harper's Magazine}}{{Cite news |title=JK Rowling joins 150 public figures warning over free speech|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53330105 | date= July 8, 2020 |work=BBC |access-date=July 23, 2020}}{{Cite news |last=Chiu |first=Allyson |date=July 8, 2020 |title=Letter signed by J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky warning of stifled free speech draws mixed reviews |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/08/letter-harpers-free-speech/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724213221/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/08/letter-harpers-free-speech/ |archive-date=July 24, 2020}}

A response letter, "A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate", was signed by over 160 people in academia and media. It criticized the Harper's letter as a plea to end cancel culture by successful professionals with large platforms who wanted to exclude others who have been "canceled for generations". The writers ultimately stated that the Harper's letter was intended to further silence already marginalized people. They wrote: "It reads as a caustic reaction to a diversifying industry—one that's starting to challenge diversifying norms that have protected bigotry."{{Cite news |last=Schuessler |first=Jennifer |date=July 10, 2020 |title=An Open Letter on Free Expression Draws a Counterblast |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/arts/open-letter-debate.html |access-date=July 12, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Mikenzie |date=July 13, 2020 |title=Harper's letter and response signed by Northwestern academics |url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/07/12/campus/northwestern-academics-clash-with-opposing-letters-on-free-speech-cancel-culture/ |access-date= July 18, 2020 |newspaper=The Daily Northwestern}}

A number of professors, politicians, journalists,{{Cite news |date=July 15, 2020 |title=Letters to the Editor: It's not 'cancel culture.' It's finally holding privileged people accountable |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-07-15/not-cancel-culture-its-finally-holding-privileged-people-accountable}}{{Cite news|last=Mishra|first=Pankaj|date=July 15, 2020 |title=No, cancel culture isn't a threat to civilization |work=ThePrint |location=India |url=https://theprint.in/opinion/no-cancel-culture-isnt-a-threat-to-civilization/461331}}{{Cite web |last=Fine |first=Duncan |date=March 4, 2021 |title=Dr Seuss not cancelled. Old stereotypes are being made redundant |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/dr-seuss-not-cancelled-old-stereotypes-are-being-made-redundant-20210304-p577q1.html |access-date=March 12, 2021 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}} and activists have questioned the validity of cancel culture as an actual phenomenon.{{Cite magazine |last=Hagi |first=Sarah |date=November 21, 2019 |title=Cancel Culture Is Not Real—At Least Not in the Way People Think |url=https://time.com/5735403/cancel-culture-is-not-real/ |access-date=March 12, 2021 |magazine=Time}} Connor Garel, writing for Vice, states that cancel culture "rarely has any tangible or meaningful effect on the lives and comfortability of the cancelled".{{cite web |last=Garel|first=Connor|date=July 9, 2018|title=Logan Paul Is Proof That Problematic People Are Never Truly Cancelled |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/logan-paul-and-the-myth-of-cancel-culture/ |access-date=16 August 2020 |website=Vice}} Danielle Kurtzleben, a political reporter for NPR, wrote in 2021 that overuse of the phrase "cancel culture" in American politics, particularly by Republicans, has made it "arguably background noise". Per Kurtzleben and others, the term has undergone semantic bleaching to lose its original meaning.{{cite news |last=Kurtzleben| first=Danielle |date=February 10, 2021|title=When Republicans Attack 'Cancel Culture,' What Does It Mean? |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/965815679/is-cancel-culture-the-future-of-the-gop |access-date=March 12, 2021 |publisher=NPR}}

Historian C. J. Coventry argues that the term is incorrectly applied, and that the label has been used to avoid accountability for historical instances of injustice.{{Cite journal|url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:33351/|title=A New Birth of Freedom: South Australia, slavery and exceptionalism|first=C. J.|last=Coventry|date=21 November 2020|journal=Humanities Commons|publisher=Modern Language Association|access-date=27 October 2022}}{{efn|"While I agree that the line between debate and suppression is one that occasionally gets crossed by the so-called left wing, it is almost invariably true that the real cancel culture is perpetrated by those who have embraced the term. If you look through Australian history, as well as European and American history, you will find countless examples of people speaking out against injustice and being persecuted in return. I can think of a number of people in our own time who are being persecuted by supposedly democratic governments for revealing uncomfortable information."}} Another historian, David Olusoga, made a similar argument, and argued that the phenomenon of cancellation is not limited to the left.{{cite news |last=Olusoga|first=David|date=January 3, 2021 |title='Cancel culture' is not the preserve of the left. Just ask our historians|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/03/cancel-culture-is-not-the-preserve-of-the-left-just-ask-our-historians |newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=December 20, 2022}}{{efn|"Unlike some on the left, I have never doubted that 'cancel culture' exists{{nbsp}}... The great myth about cancel culture, however, is that it exists only on the left. For the past 40 years, rightwing newspapers have ceaselessly fought to delegitimize and ultimately cancel our national broadcaster [the BBC], motivated by financial as well as political ambitions."}} Indigenous governance professor and activist Pamela Palmater writes in Maclean's magazine that, "cancel culture is the dog whistle term used by those in power who don't want to be held accountable for their words and actions—often related to racism, misogyny, homophobia or the abuse and exploitation of others."{{Cite web |title=The entitlement of Canadian politicians – Macleans.ca |url=https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-entitlement-of-canadian-politicians/ |access-date=January 6, 2021 |work=Maclean's}}

Sarah Manavis wrote for the New Statesman magazine that while free speech advocates are more likely to make accusations of cancel culture, criticism is part of free speech and rarely results in consequences for those in power who are criticized. She argues that social media is an extension and reincarnation of a longer tradition of expression in a liberal society, "a new space for historical power structures to be solidified" and that online criticism by people who do not hold actual power in society tends not to affect existing power structures. She adds that most prominent people who criticized public opinion as canceling still have highly profitable businesses.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2020/07/cancel-culture-does-not-exist|magazine=New Statesman|date=July 16, 2020|title='Cancel culture' does not exist|first=Sarah|last=Manavis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717045438/https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2020/07/cancel-culture-does-not-exist|archive-date=July 17, 2020|access-date=December 20, 2022}}

Some media commentators including LeVar Burton and Sunny Hostin have stated that "cancel culture" should be renamed "consequence culture".{{cite web|last=Fung|first=Katherine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/levar-burton-defends-cancel-culture-says-it-should-called-consequence-culture-1586506|title=LeVar Burton defends cancel culture, says it should be called 'consequence culture'|date=26 April 2021|work=Newsweek|access-date=27 October 2022}} The terms have different connotations: "cancel culture" focusing on the effect whereby discussion is limited by a desire to maintain one certain viewpoint, whereas "consequence culture" focuses on the idea that those who write or publish opinions or make statements should bear some responsibility for the effects of these on people.{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2021/03/roxane-gay-says-cancel-culture-does-not-exist/|title=Roxane Gay says cancel culture does not exist|first=Molly|last=Schwartz|work=Mother Jones|date=5 March 2021|access-date=27 October 2022}}

A survey conducted in September 2020 on 10,000 Americans by Pew Research Center asked a series of different questions in regard to cancel culture, specifically on who has heard of the term cancel culture and how Americans define cancel culture.{{cite web |last1=Vogels |first1=Emily A. |last2=Monica |last3=Erson |last4=Porteus |first4=Margaret |last5=Baronavski |first5=Chris |last6=Atske |first6=Sara |last7=McClain |first7=Colleen |last8=Auxier |first8=Brooke |last9=Perrin |first9=Andrew |date=May 19, 2021 |title=Americans and 'Cancel Culture': Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/05/19/americans-and-cancel-culture-where-some-see-calls-for-accountability-others-see-censorship-punishment/ |access-date=December 20, 2022 |publisher=Pew Research Center}} At that time, 44% of Americans said that they have at least heard a fair amount about the new phrase, while 22% have heard a great deal and 32% said they have heard nothing at all. 43% Americans aged 18–29 have heard a great deal about cancel culture, compared to only 12% of Americans over the age of 65 who say they have heard a great deal. Additionally, within that same study, the 44% of Americans who had heard a great deal about cancel culture, were then asked how they defined cancel culture. 49% of those Americans state that it describes actions people take to hold others accountable, 14% describe cancel culture as censorship of speech or history, and 12% define it as mean-spirited actions taken to cause others harm. It was found that men were more likely to have heard or know of cancel culture, and that those who identify with the Democratic Party (46%) are no more likely to know the term than those in the Republican Party (44%).

A poll of American registered voters conducted by Morning Consult in July 2020 showed that cancel culture, defined as "the practice of withdrawing support for (or canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive", was common: 40% of respondents said they had withdrawn support from public figures and companies, including on social media, because they had done or said something considered objectionable or offensive, with 8% having engaged in this often. Behavior differed according to age, with a majority (55%) of voters 18 to 34 years old saying they have taken part in cancel culture, while only about a third (32%) of voters over 65 said they had joined a social media pile-on.{{cite web |last=Lizza |first=Ryan |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Americans tune in to 'cancel culture' — and don't like what they see |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/22/americans-cancel-culture-377412 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723040244/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/22/americans-cancel-culture-377412 |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |access-date=July 22, 2020 |work=Politico}} Attitude towards the practice was mixed, with 44% of respondents saying they disapproved of cancel culture, 32% who approved, and 24% who did not know or had no opinion. Furthermore, 46% believed cancel culture had gone too far, with only 10% thinking it had not gone far enough. Additionally, 53% believed that people should expect social consequences for expressing unpopular opinions in public, such as those that may be construed as deeply offensive to other people.{{cite web |last1=Morning Consult |author-link=Morning Consult |last2=Politico |author-link2=Politico |date=July 2020 |title=National tracking poll, July 17–19, 2020 |url=https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000173-7326-d36e-abff-7ffe72dc0000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722192513/https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000173-7326-d36e-abff-7ffe72dc0000 |archive-date=July 22, 2020 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |work=Politico}}

A March 2021 poll by the Harvard University Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll found that 64% of respondents viewed "a growing cancel culture" as a threat to their freedom, while the other 36% did not. 36% of respondents said that cancel culture is a big problem, 32% called it a moderate problem, 20% called it a small problem, and 13% said it is not a problem. 54% said they were concerned that if they expressed their opinions online, they would be banned or fired, while the other 46% said they were not concerned.{{cite news |last1=Manchester |first1=Julia |date=March 29, 2021 |title=64 percent view 'cancel culture' as threat to freedom: poll |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/545387-64-percent-say-they-view-cancel-culture-as-a-threat-to-their-freedom-poll |access-date=April 27, 2021 |work=The Hill}}

A November 2021 Hill/HarrisX poll found that 71% of registered voters strongly or somewhat felt that cancel culture went too far, with similar numbers of Republicans (76%), Democrats (70%), and independents (68%) saying so.{{cite web |last=Schulte |first=Gabriela |date=November 8, 2021 |title=Poll: Overwhelming majority say cancel culture has gone too far |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/580569-poll-overwhelming-majority-say-cancel-culture-has-gone-too-far |access-date=November 10, 2021 |website=The Hill}} The same poll found that 69% of registered voters felt that cancel culture unfairly punishes people for their past actions or statements, compared to 31% who said it did not. Republicans were more likely to agree with the statement (79%), compared to Democrats (65%) and independents (64%).{{cite web |last=Schulte |first=Gabriela |date=November 9, 2021 |title=Poll: 69 percent say cancel culture unfairly punishes people for past actions, statements |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/580747-poll-69-percent-say-cancel-culture-unfairly-punishes-people-for |access-date=November 10, 2021 |work=The Hill}}

In a January 2022 Knight-IPSOS Study involving 4,000 participants, most Americans surveyed said that some speech should be prohibited. Specifically, they stated that "a variety of private and public institutions should prohibit racist speech". However, most also noted that these same institutions should not ban political views that are offensive.{{Cite web |title=Free Expression in America Post-2020 |url=https://knightfoundation.org/reports/free-expression-in-america-post-2020/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |publisher=Knight Foundation |language=en-US}}

A March 2022 New York Times/Siena College survey of 1,000 Americans found that 84 percent of adults said it is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem that some Americans do not speak freely in everyday situations because of fear of retaliation or harsh criticism. The survey also found that 46 percent of respondents said they felt less free to talk about politics compared to a decade ago, and that only 34 percent of Americans said they believed that all Americans enjoyed freedom of speech completely.{{Cite news |date=4 April 2022 |title=What's Really Behind America's 'Free Speech Problem' |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/04/1090894221/whats-really-behind-americas-free-speech-problem |work=NPR}}{{Cite web |last=Howell |first=Jordan |date=2022-03-18 |title=New York Times survey shows bipartisan agreement on host of free speech issues |url=https://www.thefire.org/news/new-york-times-survey-shows-bipartisan-agreement-host-free-speech-issues |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=www.thefire.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=84% Say Americans being Afraid to ExerciseFreedom of Speech is a Serious Problem – Siena College Research Institute |url=https://scri.siena.edu/2022/03/21/84-say-americans-being-afraid-to-exercisefreedom-of-speech-is-a-serious-problem/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=scri.siena.edu}}{{Cite web |last=The Learning Network |date=21 April 2022 |title=What's Going On in This Graph? {{!}} Free Speech |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-graph-april-27-2022.html |access-date=6 December 2023 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-21 |title=New Siena College poll finds respondents worried about "cancel culture" backlash to free speech |url=https://www.wamc.org/news/2022-03-21/new-siena-college-poll-finds-respondents-worried-about-cancel-culture-backlash-to-free-speech |access-date=2023-12-07 |publisher=WAMC |language=en}}

• The American animated television series South Park mocked cancel culture with its own "#CancelSouthPark" campaign;{{cite web |last=Mathews |first=Liam |date=October 11, 2018 |title=South Park Just Trolled The Simpsons Really Hard, but Why? |url=https://www.tvguide.com/news/south-park-cancel-the-simpsons/ |access-date=December 31, 2018 |work=TV Guide }}{{cite news |last=Andrews |first=Travis M. |date=October 17, 2018 |title=How 'South Park' became the ultimate #bothsides show |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/17/how-south-park-became-ultimate-bothsides-show/ |access-date=December 31, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post }}{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Chris |date=November 20, 2018 |title=Post-outrage TV: how South Park is surviving the era of controversy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/nov/20/post-outrage-tv-how-south-park-is-surviving-the-era-of-controversy |access-date=December 31, 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian }} in promotion of the show's twenty-second season (2018).{{cite web |last=Joho |first=Jess |date=October 12, 2018 |title=Why the latest season of 'South Park' feels like a total game-changer |url=https://mashable.com/article/south-park-season-22-problem-with-poo-explained/ |access-date=December 31, 2018 |website=Mashable }} In the season's third episode, "The Problem with a Poo", there are references to the 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, the cancellation of Roseanne after a controversial tweet by Roseanne Barr, and the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.{{Cite news |last=Parker |first=Ryan |date=October 10, 2018 |title='South Park' Goes After Roseanne Barr, 'Simpsons' Apu Character |language=en |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/south-park-goes-roseanne-barr-simpsons-apu-character-1151462 |access-date=October 11, 2018 }}{{Cite web |last=Barsanti |first=Sam |date=October 9, 2018 |title=South Park will somehow tackle both Brett Kavanaugh and The Problem With Apu simultaneously |url=https://www.avclub.com/south-park-will-somehow-tackle-both-brett-kavanaugh-and-1829634344 |access-date=October 10, 2018 |website=The A.V. Club }}
• In 2019, cancel culture was a primary theme in the stand-up comedy show Sticks & Stones by Dave Chappelle.{{cite magazine |title=Concerning Consent, Chappelle, and Canceling Cancel Culture |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/canceling-cancel-culture/ |access-date=October 19, 2020 |issn=1059-1028}}
• The 2022 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre satirizes cancel culture, with Leatherface killing an individual who threatens to cancel him.{{cite news|last=Eubanks|first=Alex|title=Netflix's 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is laughably bad... but that's why it's good|url=https://www.themiamihurricane.com/2022/02/25/netflixs-texas-chainsaw-massacre-is-laughably-bad-but-thats-why-its-good/|newspaper=The Miami Hurricane|date=25 February 2022}}{{cite news|last=Graham|first=Adam|title='Texas Chainsaw Massacre' review: You cannot cancel Leatherface|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/02/18/texas-chainsaw-massacre-review-you-cannot-cancel-leatherface/6812056001/|newspaper=The Detroit News|date=18 February 2022}}{{cite news|last=O'Neal|first=Sean|title=The New 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre': They Came, They Sawed, They Didn't Cut It |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/new-texas-chainsaw-massacre/|work=Texas Monthly|date=18 February 2022}}
• The 2022 film Tár was interpreted by several critics as exploring themes regarding cancel culture.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/opinion/tar-movie-cancel-culture.html|title=Finally, a Great Movie About Cancel Culture|first=Michelle|last=Goldberg|author-link=Michelle Goldberg|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2022}}{{Cite news|last=Chang|first=Justin|title=All the 2023 best picture Oscar nominees ranked, from worst to best |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-01-24/all-the-best-picture-nominees-ranked-oscars-nominations-2023|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=25 January 2023}}
• The 2023 film Dream Scenario criticizes cancel culture. The film's creator, Kristoffer Borgli, stated that he conceived the screenplay after reading about university educators who were fired for expressing personal opinions.{{cite news|last=Graham|first=Jennifer|title=Perspective: Is Hollywood courting or mocking the right in 'Dream Scenario'?|url=https://www.deseret.com/2023/12/8/23993803/dream-scenario-nicholas-cage-cancel-culture-conservatives/|newspaper=Deseret News|date=8 December 2023}}

{{Portal|Society}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Blacklisting
• Culture war
• Cyberbullying
• Damnatio memoriae
• Deplatforming
• Milkshake duck
• Moral entrepreneur
• Moral panic
• Name and shame
• Online shaming
• Ostracism
• Reactionary
• Scandal
• Send to Coventry
• Shunning
• Social exclusion
• Social justice warrior
• Witch-hunt
• Woke

{{div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Bouvier |first=Gwen |year=2020 |title=Racist Call-Outs and Cancel Culture on Twitter: The Limitations of the Platform's Ability to Define Issues of Social Justice |journal=Discourse, Context & Media |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=38 |page=100431 |doi=10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100431 |s2cid=225015791 |issn=2211-6958}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Meredith D. |year=2020 |title=Drag Them: A Brief Etymology of So-Called 'Cancel Culture' |journal=Communication and the Public |publisher=SAGE Publications |volume=5 |issue=3–4 |pages=88–92 |doi=10.1177/2057047320961562 |s2cid=228076523 |issn=2057-0473|doi-access=free }}
• {{Cite news |title=The Callout |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/13/601971617/the-callout |access-date=March 11, 2021 |work=Invisibilia |date=April 13, 2018 |publisher=NPR |ref={{sfnref|NPR.org|2018}}}}
• {{Cite news |last=Kurtzleben |first=Danielle |date=February 10, 2021 |title=When Republicans Attack 'Cancel Culture,' What Does It Mean? |work=Morning Edition |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/965815679/is-cancel-culture-the-future-of-the-gop |access-date=February 17, 2021}}
• {{Cite web |last=Masnick |first=Mike |date=March 21, 2022 |title=The 'Culture of Free Speech' Includes Criticism of Others' Speech; Get Over It |url=https://www.techdirt.com/2022/03/21/the-culture-of-free-speech-includes-criticism-of-others-speech-get-over-it/ |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=Techdirt}}
• {{Cite web |last=Norris |first=Pippa |date=21 Aug 2021 |orig-date=15 Aug 2020 |title=Closed Minds? Is a 'Cancel Culture' Stifling Academic Freedom and Intellectual Debate in Political Science? |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3671026 |series=HKS Working Paper No. RWP20-025 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3671026 |ssrn=3671026 |issn=1556-5068 |s2cid=225517117}}

{{Conformity}}{{Discrimination}}{{Censorship}}{{Authority control}}

Category:2010s neologisms

Category:Boycotts

Category:Internet-related controversies

Category:Political pejoratives

Category:Shunning

Category:Social rejection

Category:Freedom of speech