La cancel culture is one of the most debated phenomena in contemporary society. Born in the United States in the wake of social networks and the #MeToo movement, it consists of publicly ostracizing individuals or institutions deemed incompatible with certain values. For its defenders, it is a tool of social justice. For its detractors, it is a popular tribunal which flouts freedom of expression.
What makes cancel culture difficult to analyze is that it cannot be reduced to one camp. It made it possible to expose predatory behavior that had long been tolerated. It has also led to obvious excesses. Like trying to rewrite children’s nursery rhymes. Or the questioning of Abraham Lincoln for his positions on slavery.
This article looks at the origins of cancel culture, its most emblematic examples in the Anglo-Saxon world, and the reasons why it continues to divide.
Definitions and historical perspective
The cancel culture is a practice that appeared in the United States consisting of publicly denouncing, with a view to their ostracization, individuals, groups or institutions responsible for acts, behaviors or comments perceived as unacceptable. It is the act of “cancelling” people, works, ideas or historical monuments from public space because they do not correspond to certain values. We tend to associate this phenomenon with wokes.
She tends to advocate political correctness (political correctness), concept which defines a language aimed at offending people as little as possible, especially on racial, cultural, sexual and identity issues.
In the 1980s and 1990s, political correctness began to gain more and more momentum. It then became incorrect to use racist, sexist or homophobic terms. Many people see this as a step forward in raising awareness of issues such as ” Pack Bashing HAS”. This is a practice of making jokes at the expense of people from the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom. Jokes stereotyping them have become taboo. They often portrayed the Scots as stingy, the Irish as stupid…
Table of emblematic cases
| Person or institution | Année | Reason for the controversy | Suite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvey Weinstein | 2017 | Accusations of sexual assault, trigger of the #MeToo movement | Sentenced to 23 years in 2020, conviction overturned on appeal in 2024 |
| Kevin Spacey | 2017 | Sexual assault accusations | at Écarté House of Cardsacquitted in the United Kingdom in 2023 |
| J.K. Rowling | 2020 | Tweets jugés transphobes | Still active, co-signer of the Harper’s Magazine letter |
| Donald Trump | 2021 | Closure of Twitter and Facebook accounts after the assault on the Capitol | Reinstated on X by Elon Musk in November 2022 |
| Statues confédérées | 2020 | Symbols of slavery | Hundreds withdrawn in US and UK |
| Edward Colston | 2020 | British slave trader | Statue thrown into Bristol harbor by protesters |
| Roald Dahl | 2023 | Passages deemed offensive in children’s books | Changes announced by Puffin, then abandoned after controversy |
| Alex Jones | 2018 | Hate speech on Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify in less than 24 hours | Banned from four platforms on August 6, 2018 |
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Cancel culture vs liberté d’expression
The debate on cancel culture is also a debate on freedom of expression. In July 2020, more than 150 intellectuals signed a letter published in Harper’s Magazine. Among them: JK Rowling, Salman Rushdie, Noam Chomsky, Margaret Atwood and Malcolm Gladwell. The letter warned of the dangers of a “climate of intolerance” threatening public debate. She did not defend the behavior targeted by cancel culture. She pointed out the risk of an atmosphere where the fear of ostracization prevents any nuanced position being taken.
Their opponents countered that freedom of expression does not imply freedom from consequences. Being “canceled†does not mean being imprisoned. This means that others are exercising their own freedom by refusing to support someone. This debate highlights a fundamental tension in liberal democracies. How far does freedom of expression protect those who express themselves? And to what extent does it protect those who are targeted?
In the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Act adopted in 2023 required platforms to moderate hateful content. In the United States, the First Amendment makes any similar regulation much more complex. These legal differences explain why cancel culture takes different forms on both sides of the Atlantic.
Many controversies and divergent opinions
If we talk to you about it during an oral interview or you wish to mention it in writing, I advise you not to paint an all-black or all-white portrait.
Certainly, the cancel culture and political correctness are sometimes excessive. For example, in 2005, teachers were asked to teach the song Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep to young children. Many people considered this to be an excess. The original song Baa Baa Black Sheepa popular nursery rhyme, dates back to a tax on wool in the 13th century and had no racial connotations. Advocates of change insist that the use of the word rainbow encourages open-mindedness, especially since the LGBTQ community began using the rainbow as an emblem, while the word noir a des connotations négatives.
That said, we can affirm that political correctness and cancel culture are necessary. Donald Trump’s “twitter diplomacy” has openly insulted and marginalized minorities, regularly calling Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” for example. In this context, many felt that someone had to fight against these prejudices. The campaign that ultimately led to the Sun to abandon its traditional photo of topless girls on page 3 is another example of progress in the fight against sexism.
The cancel culture Today
A culture that allows as many people as possible to be heard…
Today, we talk more and more about the cancel culture. Indeed, woke culture has evolved towards cancel culture with the #metoo movement as part of the culture war. Once again, the original objective of the movement cancel culture seemed positive. It was about “demanding greater accountability from public figures,” as Merriam-Webster defines it. The idea being that it gives ordinary people a chance to express themselves. The counterargument is that they sometimes destroy people’s careers unfairly, without due process. That said, the cancel culture is a social media fad and condemnation of individuals tends to be fleeting, before moving on to the next target.
In 2020, JK Rowling was heavily criticized for posting a series of tweets that offended the transgender community. She objected to a post about “people who menstruate,” saying the word people should be replaced by the word womenbecause transgender women do not have periods. She clarified that she was not transphobic, but that she was concerned about the erasure of notions of sex and gender. In 2021, Rowling was among dozens of writers, academics and activists who signed an open letter denouncing the cancel culture which threatened freedom of expression and the arts.
… and which spreads through social networks and attempts to revisit history
The media and social networks have been criticized for having favored cancel culture by closing accounts. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was banned from numerous sites when he denied the existence of the Sandy Hook school massacre, claiming it was a hoax. More controversially, Donald Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were shut down in 2020. Facebook announced in 2021 that it would ban all QAnon groups, accounts and pages on Facebook and Instagram, in line with its enforcement measures against “militarized social movements.”
Another aspect of the cancel culture is about revisiting history and attempting to “erase” embarrassing aspects of a nation’s past. It began with the campaign to take down statues of historical figures closely associated with slavery. Like that of Confederate General Robert Lee in Charlottesville in 2017, or that of former slave owner Edward Colston in Bristol (United Kingdom) in 2020. But many believe that this goes too far. Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill were even accused of being pro-slavery and fascist, despite their historically recognized fights against these two movements.
Cancel culture in 2024-2025
The return of Donald Trump to the White House in January 2025 gave a new dimension to the debate. This time, anti-wokism has become state policy. As of January 21, 2025, Trump signed an executive order eliminating all DEI programs in federal agencies. He ordered the withdrawal of training on diversity in the army. He signed another executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He also wanted to rename Mount Denali to Mount McKinley. The Alaska Senate, although dominated by Republicans, was unanimously opposed.
For its supporters, it is a necessary correction in the face of the excesses of cancel culture. For its opponents, it is a form of reverse cancel culture. It in turn erases entire sections of history and culture. This reversal reveals a profound evolution of the phenomenon. Cancel culture is no longer the prerogative of the progressive left. It has become a political tool used on both sides of the spectrum.
The debate has also intensified in the United Kingdom. After the riots in the summer of 2024, several conservative voices accused cancel culture of having made any calm debate on immigration impossible. The Starmer government has had to navigate between combating hate speech online and preserving freedom of expression.
To learn more about Wokism
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