“Did you hear Kanye west's concert got cancelled", "Kunal Kamra’s show should be cancelled", these are some phrases that we all have come across quite often. A few years back, the only things getting cancelled were delivery items and online subscriptions, however, in the past few years we are witnessing ample celebrities getting "cancelled" on and by social media. There was a time when “cancel” was a mere word but now this word has been transformed into a culture. And this culture has been spreading like wildfire on the internet and social media.
We hear the hot news of a new celebrity getting cancelled every once in a while, so what does “cancel culture” mean? The idea or concept of cancel culture has been adapted from a method of ostracism, also known as "social shunning" of the individuals who posed a threat to society in ancient Greece. This modernized attempt to "social shunning" comes into the picture when a public figure portrays or expresses any form of opinion or view which can be considered offensive, by a specific group of people, they risk getting "cancelled" through social media. This means that a group of people who are unable to tolerate their views come together to nullify the individual through the internet which can affect their professional life. Now, the question here is, does cancelling an individual work in any way? To answer that question, there have been instances where celebrities have been impacted by their cancellation, resulting in having a dent in their reputation or the work. Although public figures are the ones usually targeted by the cancel culture, there have been incidents where employees have been fired from their workplaces due to their actions evoking a negative reaction from the internet and social media users.
To go back to the origin of cancel culture, this movement or trend, as some might call it, was started when the term "#cancelled" was used on Black Twitter where celebrities who posted inappropriate content were said to be cancelled. However, what started as a trend soon turned into a mass wave of chaos, with debates happening on whether cancelling a public figure based on their past actions is going to help the cause or not. With most of the opinions being against this culture, there are still individuals who believe that this concept will help bring a change in society.
“We live in the age of cancel culture, but this isn’t something that started this week. It is something that they have been doing to us and others for years,” said Trump, who was recently banned from all social media platforms on the grounds of inciting violence. “If you disagree with them, if they don’t like you, they try and cancel you.”
So is Trump's ban also a part of lynch mob cancel culture? or was it a necessary measure, as all social media platforms claim to prohibit content that promotes hate speech which promotes and could further incite violence?
On January 8, 2021, President Donald J. Trump Tweeted:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape, or form!!!”
And in his final tweet, Trump said he would not be attending the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
After these tweets, Twitter announced the temporary suspension of Trump's account citing the events of January 6, 2021, the raid, and the violent attacks of Trump's supporters on the U.S. Capitol, to overturn Trump's defeat in the Presidential election; and further risk of violence incitement as a reason for the suspension.
Twitter furthermore warned the president another violation of its terms of service would result in a permanent ban, but that did not stop Trump, who further went and tweeted, "We will not be SILENCED!" from an official government account and further criticized Twitter for restricting free speech. And this served as the final nail on the coffin which resulted in Trump's permanent suspension from tweeter under its "ban evasion" policies.
Twitter's suspension of Trump was followed by Facebook, Snapchat, Spotify, Twitch, Shopify, and Stripe, while Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest announced new restrictions on posting in support of the president or his actions.
Even though it was too late as the incitement had already occurred and Capitol had already been stormed, it was the right thing to do as, since his election loss, Trump was constantly spreading misinformation and using social media platforms to baselessly claim that the election was a fraud and rigged.
And if Trump really has been cancelled then why is he still so relevant? Why is everyone still talking about him and why are his blind protesters still not backing down?
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