Cancel Culture

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: Cancel culture allows marginalized people to seek accountability where the justice system fails.
- Pro 2: Cancel culture gives a voice to disenfranchised or less powerful people.
- Pro 3: Cancel culture is simply a new form of boycott, a cherished tactic in the civil rights movement, to spur social change.
Cons
- Con 1: Cancel culture is online bullying, often inciting violence and threats that are worse than the supposed offense being called out.
- Con 2: Cancel culture is not productive and does not bring about social change.
- Con 3: Cancel culture is a slippery slope that spurs intolerance as people systematically exclude anyone who disagrees with their views.
Discussion Questions
Take Action
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Concept art depicting cancel culture.

Discover

Prisoners of Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, April 16, 1945, liberated by American troops of the 80th Division. Elie Wiesel (7th from the left on the middle bunk next to the vertical post) World War II Holocaust

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The impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson, illustration from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 28, 1868.

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Cancel Culture: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Gloria Lotha

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Text modified; links fixed and added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 28, 2025
	Add new Web site: The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley - Is There Anything Useful About Cancel Culture?	Gloria Lotha	Jan 17, 2025
	New article added.	The Editors of ProCon	Oct 14, 2024