Each side is righteously sensitive to any perceived hate speech from the other, but seems unwilling to limit their own punitive strategies or inflammatory language.
Public shaming can help uphold online community norms.
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There is no shortage of horror stories about online shaming, but it’s not always a bad thing. It comes down to who is doing the shaming and how cohesive the online community is.
Canceling people can harm democracy.
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Writers festivals navigate the fraught frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the civilised public debate of the public square. What’s the way forward in this heated atmosphere?
What do YouTuber influencer videos about being ‘cancelled’ share with 17th-century texts? Both were crafted directly in response to audiences in new social spaces.
In ‘Beef,’ two L.A. strangers (played by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong) end up in an escalating feud after a road rage incident. The identity of the characters is both incidental and central to the story, blasting through stereotypes.
(Andrew Cooper/Netflix)
The brilliance of the new Netflix TV show, ‘Beef,’ which looks at loneliness and urban life, is threatened by the controversial history of one of its supporting actors, David Choe.
20th century painter, Wyndham Lewis.
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If the idea of “cancellation” as we know it today had been available to him, Wyndham Lewis would almost certainly have used it to describe the fallout from his Hitler book.
Chris Brown performing in 2022.
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Three Ukranian authors, including Maria Tumarkin – who’s made a powerful statement – have withdrawn from Adelaide Writers Week after harsh criticism of the Ukranian president by a participating author.
Outside of teaching and writing, Samuel Steward took up tattooing.
The Estate of Samuel M. Steward
Calls have erupted to cancel two writers from Adelaide Writers’ Week – including from South Australia’s Opposition leader. Why? And are they justified? Denis Muller weighs the evidence.
Scold’s bridle, a torture device used to prevent women speaking.
Wikimedia commons
Defenders of free speech are often the same people who seek to silence those they do not happen to agree with.
French Education and Youth Minister Pap Ndiaye speaks during a press conference following a weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysée Palace in Paris on June 14, 2022.
Ludovic Marin/AFP
Considered a pioneer of “Black Studies à la française”, Ndiaye’s appointment comes at a time when issues in race and gender have divided the French political class and public opinion.
A faded photograph is attached to the headstone that marks the gravesite of Emmett Till in Chicago.
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As Western sanctions seek to isolate Russia, they also perversely reinforce the country’s mythic view of itself as a special place that outsiders want to destroy.
Privileged people don’t get to unilaterally decide that their behaviour isn’t racist. Real change must involve more humility (I’m looking at you, Joe).
Comedians Trevor Noah (L) and Dave Chappelle (R)
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