Bi-Weekly Discussion - Is "Cancel Culture" a Real Threat?

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. Don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join.

Here's the link to the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89266722557?pwd=VjFodTlGVWsvSHZMRGx0Q3hrVThQQT09

Meeting ID: 892 6672 2557
Passcode: 428072

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IS "CANCEL CULTURE" A REAL THREAT TO THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS?

INTRODUCTION:

Back on July 7th, there was an open letter published on Harper's Magazine website with 153 signatories — including many notable scholars like Anne Applebaum, Noam Chomsky, Nicholas Christakis, Francis Fukuyama, Jonathan Haidt, Shadi Hamid, Parag Khanna, Mark Lilla, Deidre McCloskey, John McWhorter, Yascha Mounk, Steven Pinker, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Allison Stanger, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Fareed Zakaria — that decried the stifling of free expression & open debate in the news media, academia, and other cultural institutions. In this meetup, we'll discuss whether or not their concerns are well-founded. Is "cancel culture" a threat to the marketplace of ideas, or is some degree of "cancellation" useful to combat bigotry & extremism?

To preface our discussion, we'll need to define "cancel culture". Over the last couple years, the term has been applied to several types of actions by angry mobs, listed here in order of escalating severity:
(1) Calling Out & Online Shaming: mass forms of online criticism (a.k.a. "dogpiling"), with the aim not of starting a debate but rather coercing a speaker's apology, retraction, or withdrawal from a platform (a.k.a. self-cancellation).
(2) Deplatforming: shutting down speakers by denying them access to a physical venue, shouting them down, using a DoS attack on their website, or getting them kicked off an online platform.
(3) Employer Doxing & Political Boycotts: revealing a person's employer, mass calling their manager, picketing a business or deluging a consumer feedback site with negative reviews (a.k.a. review bombing), organizing a boycott, or threatening a libel lawsuit (a.k.a. SLAPP) — all to coerce an employer to censor, discipline or fire an employee for their speech.
(4) Character Assassination & Blacklisting: ruining a speaker's reputation so they're unemployable in their chosen profession.
(5) Political Harassment & Stochastic Terrorism: forms of protest that aim to publicly humiliate a person & advertise their vulnerability in a way that could be seen as incitement or a veiled threat; for example, online tactics like "doxing" that reveals their home address, or in-person tactics like "escrache" (protesting outside a public figure's home), loudly confronting & mobbing them in public (a.k.a. "struggle sessions"), or mock assassinations like "milkshaking" & "glitterbombing".
(6) Political Violence: clearly criminal acts used as a form of "direct action" to silence a speaker, either online (e.g. cyber-extortion, death threats, swatting), or in-person (e.g. intimidation, assault, assassination).

Even though the 1st Amendment protects freedom of speech and the Supreme Court banned various government infringements on this freedom in several major cases in the 20th & early 21st centuries, extra-legal penalties for controversial speech have always been present, such as loss of employment, social ostracism, and physical violence. The types of speech viewed as controversial have shifted over time, and the intensity of the persecution of dissenters has waxed & waned depending on the political climate. There were several waves of private political persecution in the 20th century, notably anti-union vigilantism & racial pogroms in 1919-1920, the anti-communist blacklists of the 1950s, and the firing, evictions & physical attacks on Civil Rights activists in the 1960s, but these were heavily supported by government efforts to stamp out "subversives" as part of the war on communism.

Thankfully, in more recent decades, private political persecution hasn't usually been backed by government force, although it's still aroused controversy. Starting in the late 1980s, left-wing college activism began to pressure students & faculty to conform to new speech norms - i.e. "political correctness" — lest they be branded racist, sexist & homophobic. After the 9/11 attacks, conservative pundits used "patriotic correctness" to pressure critics of the War on Terror to shut up & "support the troops" lest they be branded traitors.

Modern "cancel culture" can be thought as a successor to these earlier forms of political shaming, albeit amplified by increased polarization and the ease of coordinating mobs via social media. "Cancel culture" also has more of a tendency toward "purity spirals" where activists call out those who are nominally on the same side of the political spectrum.

"Cancel culture" closely relates to ideas about the "marketplace of ideas" and the "public sphere". In two meetups in 2018, we addressed the role of universities and the mainstream news media in shaping the "public sphere" — i.e. areas in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. This notion of the "public sphere" as an integral part of liberal democracy is related to Karl Popper's idea of the "open society". As a philosopher of science, Popper considered all truth to be provisional & subject to revision, and thus he favored an “open society” where each citizen has the right & duty to engage in critical thinking on matters of public concern. Popper contrasted the “open society” with the “closed societies” of theocracies, communism, and fascism where the authorities determine the official “Truth” and it is relatively fixed and can’t be easily revised even when it’s manifestly wrong.

The “open society” also relates to John Rawls’ concept of “reflective equilibrium”, which is the idea that a society can arrive at relatively stable & widely agreed-upon moral principles through public discussion & reflection. If this process is short-circuited by an attempt to impose moral principles from the top-down, it creates a risk that not enough of the populace will “buy into” the official morality and the public sense of a morally binding “social contract” will break down. Authoritarian orthodoxies rely on what the social scientist Timur Kuran calls "preference falsification" — i.e. people can't say what they really think and thus they don't know how unhappy others are. This creates an opportunity for "preference cascades", critical moments when people realize their private feelings are shared by a large portion of the population and they collectively revolt against the false consensus.

Many political activists on both the far left & far right, as well as radical centrists, reject the idealized Enlightenment view of the "public sphere" and don't see the "marketplace of ideas" as fair or neutral. Those on the left often argue that the mainstream news media is manipulated by corporate advertisers & right-wing propaganda, whereas those on the right often view both the news media & academia as politically biased against them. Activists on both sides often argue that gatekeeping institutions "socially engineer" a false public consensus to ensure it stays within certain boundaries, a.k.a. the "Overton window". As we discussed at another meetup in 2018, some activists have used the internet to establish a "counter-public sphere" through alternative news blogs & podcasts to promote their ideas.

"Cancel culture" is a different strategy that aims to move the Overton window by hijacking the gatekeeping institutions rather than bypassing them, and "cancellation" silences those who disagree rather than persuading them to change their minds. In this discussion, we'll consider whether or not this tactic is legitimate.

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:

In the above Intro, I mentioned 3 past meetups where we discussed the "public sphere" concept as it relates to universities, the news media, and the rise of alternative media. Here's the links to those discussion outlines:

"Do Colleges Need Academic Freedom & Political Diversity?"
https://bit.ly/2DHm2oM

"Press Freedom, News Quality & News Diversity"
https://bit.ly/31znrpT

"Alternative Media & The Overton Window"
https://bit.ly/2XFKL3R

Back In February of 2019, we had a meetup entitled "Outrage in the Digital Age". We discussed the psychology of moral outrage and how it carries both benefits & costs, the way outrage is harnessed via the internet by activists to "get out the vote" and push for social change (which occasionally backfires), how the ethics of shaming relate to public apologies & forgiveness, and whether comedy provides a better vehicle for creating social awareness of hypocrisies & absurdities rather than outrage & shaming.
https://bit.ly/2DvYl31

The Skeptics had a meetup back in July of 2018 entitled "Memes, Trends & Cultural Evolution". In the 3rd section we discussed Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's "spiral of silence" theory and Nicholas Nassim Taleb's "minority rule" theory and how they use different mechanics to explain how highly vocal activists can force society to accommodate their social preferences. Whereas Noelle-Neumann's theory depends mostly on "cultivation theory" (i.e. how media shapes our perception of reality) and "social desirability bias" (i.e. tendency to underreport taboo opinions & overreport trendy opinions), Taleb's theory depends more on the "concentrated benefits" a minority can reap from forcing society to accommodate their preferences and the "diffuse costs" of accommodating a minority that is highly vocal & intransigent.
https://bit.ly/30DoBBp

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you an overview of some of the major debates over "cancel culture". As usual, I don't expect you to read all the articles prior to attending.

The easiest way to prepare is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section — the videos come to about about 46 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry — we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. "CANCEL CULTURE" AND THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS:

• IF PUBLIC OUTCRY LEADS TO A RETRACTION OF AN ARTICLE, BOOK OR FILM OR THE FIRING OF THE CREATOR, IS THIS OKAY SINCE THE LACK OF GOV'T INTERVENTION MEANS IT WASN'T AN INFRINGEMENT OF "FREE SPEECH"? OR ARE THERE BROADER NORMS OF "OPEN DEBATE" WE NEED TO PREVENT A SLIDE INTO "ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY"?

• WILL THOSE WHO ARE CANCELLED BE ABLE TO USE BLOGS & PODCASTS & CONSUMER SPONSORSHIP TO BYPASS GATEKEEPERS AT UNIVERSITIES & LEGACY MEDIA OUTLETS? IF SO, COULD THIS STILL HARM THE "MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS" BY FRAGMENTING THE INTERNET INTO ECHO CHAMBERS & MONETIZING OUTRAGE?

• CONSIDERING ONE'S POLITICAL VIEWS ARE OFTEN TIED TO ONE'S RACE, GENDER, RELIGION, ETC., SHOULD POLITICAL AFFILIATION BE ADDED TO THE "PROTECTED CLASSES" THAT CAN'T BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN HIRING & FIRING, OR WOULD THIS VIOLATE THE EMPLOYER'S "FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION"?

• SHOULD WE MODIFY "AT-WILL" EMPLOYMENT LAWS TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM BEING FIRED FOR CONTROVERSIAL BUT PROTECTED SPEECH OUTSIDE OF WORK? IF SO, HOW ABOUT SPEECH OR EXPRESSION THAT OCCURS AT WORK (E.G. ATHLETES KNEELING, EMPLOYEES WEARING POLITICAL SYMBOLS)?

• WHY DOES THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT BAN "SECONDARY BOYCOTTS" BY UNIONS? SHOULD THIS BE EXTENDED TO PREVENT THE USE OF ADVERTISER BOYCOTTS TO PUT PRESSURE ON MEDIA COMPANIES & ONLINE PLATFORMS?

• SHOULD SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES LIKE FACEBOOK, TWITTER & YOUTUBE BE FORCED TO ALLOW FREE SPEECH LIKE A PUBLIC FORUM IF THEY WANT TO BE CONSIDERED "PLATFORMS" INSTEAD OF "PUBLISHERS" WHO ARE LIABLE FOR MATERIAL ON THEIR SITES?

1a) John Stossel w/ Robby Soave, "Cancelled in the WOKEplace" (video - 5:23 min.)
https://youtu.be/LtHf3VAz1cQ

1b) HuffPost, "Deconstructing Cancel Culture" (video - 3:15 min.)
https://youtu.be/vWe6IZe3PGo

• Ryan Lizza, "Americans tune in to ‘cancel culture’ — and don't like what they see [according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll]"
  https://politi.co/3gG5hZH

• Zaid Jilani, "A Better Remedy for Cancel Culture: End at-will employment."
  https://bit.ly/3ilgvDn

• Katharine Pickle, "Why Google May Be in the Right [in the James Damore Lawsuit]: An Analysis of Political Discrimination in the Workplace"
  https://bit.ly/2XEEyFD

• David Greene & Aaron Mackey, "Trump Executive Order Misreads Key Law [CDA 230] Promoting Free Expression Online and Violates the First Amendment"
  https://bit.ly/3a7ScGk

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II. CANCEL CULTURE'S LINK TO DEBATES OVER ANTI-SEMITISM & ISLAMOPHOBIA:

• DID EFFORTS TO CRITICIZE RIGHT-WING ISLAMOPHOBIA AFTER 9/11 LEAD LEFT-WING PUNDITS TO DEFEND REGRESSIVE SOCIAL PRACTICES IN ISLAM & DOWNPLAY ISLAMIC TERRORISM? DID THEY TRY TO CANCEL CRITICS OF ISLAM BY BRANDING THEM AS RACISTS?

• IS BLACK ANTI-SEMITISM MORE TOLERATED DUE TO THE "REGRESSIVE" LEFT'S DOUBLE STANDARDS?

• IS ANTI-SEMITISM INCREASING ON THE POLITICAL LEFT, OR IS IT MERELY OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL? ARE JEWS LOSING STATUS IN THE "PROGRESSIVE STACK" BECAUSE THEY'RE SEEN AS PRIVILEGED?

• IN CONFLICTS BETWEEN PRO-ISRAEL & BDS ACTIVISTS ON U.S. COLLEGE CAMPUSES, ARE THEY MOSTLY JUST DEFENDING THEIR SIDE'S RIGHT TO SPEAK OR TRYING TO CANCEL EACH OTHER?

• DO CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS LIKE THE ADL & CAIR TRY TO CONFLATE CRITICISM WITH BIGOTRY TO CANCEL THEIR OPPONENTS, OR DO THEY CONFINE THEIR ACTIVISM TO CALLING OUT REAL BIGOTRY?

2a) Maajid Nawaz, "How the PC Regressive Left Can Manifest Bigotry and Prejudice" (video - 7:23 min.)
https://youtu.be/ZXvysq5LvVU

2b) Katie Halper w/ Ali Abunimah, "Free Speech Hypocrites: Bari Weiss" (video - 7:54 min.)
https://youtu.be/Ph9wBVi2jEc

• Maajid Nawaz, "I’m A Muslim Reformer. Why Am I Being Smeared [by SPLC] as an ‘Anti-Muslim Extremist’?"
  https://bit.ly/31tYCeR

• Leinz Vales, "Jemele Hill says muted outrage over recent anti-Semitic controversies may be rooted in not wanting to undermine racial justice movement"
  https://cnn.it/30CHfcB

• Andrew Rehfeld, "What the taboo on criticizing Israel can teach us about cancel culture"
  https://bit.ly/2PBJHd3

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III. CANCEL CULTURE'S LINK TO DEBATES OVER TRANS RIGHTS:

• WHAT DOES THE RECENT RISE IN ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS & LESBIANS SUGGEST FOR TRANS ACTIVISM? DOES RAPPORT-BUILDING OR SHAMING WORK BETTER?

• SINCE SCOTUS RULED GENDER IDENTITY A PROTECTED CLASS, SHOULD "MISGENDERING" SOMEONE AT WORK OR REFUSING CERTAIN SERVICES BE GROUNDS FOR FIRING, AND PERHAPS ILLEGAL?

• SHOULD THOSE WHO DENY TRANS PEOPLE ARE "REAL" MEN/WOMEN BE DEPLATFORMED ONLINE?

• ARE TRANS ACTIVISTS TRYING TO SHUT DOWN DEBATE OVER TRANS TEENS, "RAPID ONSET GENDER DYSPHORIA" & DE-TRANSITIONING?

• ARE TRANS ACTIVISTS TRYING TO SHUT DOWN DEBATES OVER ATYPICAL FORMS OF TRANSGENDERISM LIKE "NON-BINARY" & "AUTOGYNEPHILIA"?

• DO "TERFs" WHO WANT TO KEEP TRANSWOMEN OUT OF SOME WOMEN'S SPACES (E.G. RESTROOMS, SPORTS) BUT SUPPORT TRANS RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE STILL DESERVE TO BE CANCELLED?

3a) CBC News, "J.K. Rowling defends comments about transgender people" (video - 4:20 min.)
https://youtu.be/dlryB3nyUU8

3b) The Hill, "Krystal interviews Contrapoints on her blockbuster cancel culture video" (video - 10:50 min.)
https://youtu.be/3V6ysnwf5bc

• Colleen Flaherty, "The Trans Divide: The disagreement over scholarly debate about gender identity rages on"
  https://bit.ly/31ungvY

• Roger Dubar, "No, inclusivity does not mean everyone has to have the same opinion as you"
  https://bit.ly/3ijURiU

• German Lopez, "The debate about transgender children and 'detransitioning' is really about transphobia"
  https://bit.ly/3gKhb52

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IV. CANCEL CULTURE'S LINK TO CRITICAL RACE THEORY & BLACK LIVES MATTER:

• WHAT DOES THE HISTORIC DECLINE IN OVERT RACISM SUGGEST FOR TODAY'S RACIAL ACTIVISTS? DOES RAPPORT-BUILDING OR SHAMING WORK BETTER?

• IS CURRENT CIVIL UNREST DUE TO EARLIER ATTEMPTS TO CANCEL DISCUSSION OF POLICE REFORM (E.G. ATHLETES KNEELING) & LABEL BLM AS "TERRORISTS"?

• ARE BLM ACTIVISTS & ALLIES TRYING TO SHUT DOWN DEBATES OVER RIOTS & BLACK CRIME RATES?

• DOES BLM ACTIVISM OBSCURE BLACK SUPPORT FOR REFORMS THAT INVOLVE HIRING MORE POLICE RATHER THAN DEFUNDING?

• IS "CRITICAL RACE THEORY" A NEW QUASI-RELIGION THAT PROMOTES REVERSE RACISM & TRIES TO CANCEL ALL WHO DISAGREE?

• IS CORPORATE DIVERSITY TRAINING BASICALLY A POLITICAL TEST FOR EMPLOYMENT? WILL IT PROVOKE CONFLICTS OVER "MICROAGGRESSIONS" OR HELP COWORKERS GET ALONG?

4a) CNN w/ John McWhorter, "Is antiracism our new religion?" (video - 3:48 min.)
https://youtu.be/hGJbrLs_8_0

4b) ABC News, "‘Cancel culture’ collides with racial injustice" (video - 3:42 min.)
https://youtu.be/BZVbJ3XF6Eg

• Yascha Mounck, "Stop Firing the Innocent: America needs a reckoning over racism. Punishing people who did not do anything wrong harms that important cause."
  https://bit.ly/2DmWcH2

• Daniel Bergner, "'White Fragility' Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Actually Work?"
  https://nyti.ms/2XGJCcp

• Lili Loofbourow, "The Cancel Culture Trap: Can Black Lives Matter accomplish what Me Too couldn’t?"
  https://bit.ly/30Fq6PA

...