Lisa DuBois Low, assistant professor of practice in the Public Relations Department at Texas Tech (Photo from TTU website)
Cancel culture has been described as the act of canceling people, brands, shows, movies, or anything that one deems offensive, according to Merriam-Webster.
The site also notes that cancel culture is not a new concept and has been around for years. However, with the increase in social media and social media users, cancel culture has become more prevalent in society.
Lisa DuBois Low, an assistant professor of practice in the public relations department at Texas Tech, explained how she would describe cancel culture to people who may not understand it.
“It is, to me, social media users and everyday citizens exercising the power that the democratic web gives them to be strategically activated in rising up against something that they don’t approve of,” Low said.
Low further explains that the power of cancel culture is necessary and unnecessary.
“I think power can be wielded for good or it can be wielded for evil–when you put it in superhero terms–when you have power that comes with responsibility,” Low said.
Richard Rosen, a professor of Law at Texas Tech, said cancel culture is not a legal issue because it is not the government canceling, or shutting people down, but private citizens or big tech companies.
“Well, it’s not illegal if private parties do it, I mean you can ignore people you don’t like, you can speak your own opinion,” Rosen said. “The First Amendment only applies to the government- state, local, and federal government, so there is no legal issue with respect of the First Amendment.”
Rosen said it is inevitable that people will disagree with one another, but people will speak their mind and cancel culture won’t stop them from using their free speech.
“First Amendment protects all kinds of speech including hate speech. There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment, and I think the more speech the better. Quite frankly, if I don’t like what someone says I tune it out. People who really get upset, maybe invest in blindfolds and earplugs, but people are going to say things we don’t agree with,” Rosen said.
Richard Rosen, Professor of Law at Texas Tech (Photo from TTU website)
While cancel culture does not present legal infringements, Rosen said he is concerned about people being removed from social media platforms because of their different opinions.
“I would emphasize that the cancel culture right now is primarily done by private actors, and that doesn’t raise First Amendment issues,” Rosen said. “I am concerned about people kicked off of social media platforms simply because they disagree with whoever runs the social media, but that doesn’t violate the First Amendment.”
Low said it is important to understand the responsibility people have in figuring out the facts before jumping to cancel someone or something because one is “outraged for 30 seconds.”
“You don’t have to wait, but I think there is a responsibility that comes in formulating an intelligent decision based on facts–verifiable facts,” Low said. “We become insensitive to how these kinds of things really impact others in a meaningful way.”
Low said people ought to approach social media with “thoughtfulness” and “humanness.”
“It is a fundamental tool that has changed the way we live, the way we love, the way we learn, everything,” Low said. “It has changed everything about how we exist. It can be such a powerful tool for good, but unfortunately it’s a double-edged sword.”
About averydishaw
