The internet makes holding people accountable for their words and actions easier than ever by allowing people to band together and call out public figures, creating cancel culture.

Cancel culture is an idea created to describe the actions of people on the internet who effectively blacklist public figures for saying things considered to be politically incorrect. This is evidence of the deep political divide going on in the United States right now. Some people, primarily Conservative Republicans according to poll data from the Pew Research Center, believe that cancel culture is an infringement of free speech, censorship, or people attacking those they don’t agree with. However, the majority of Americans see it as a way of holding people accountable for the things they say online, using it as a teaching moment.

I believe that cancel culture is teaching people to be more thoughtful in their words, which is a good thing for a society that has supported bigotry for much of its history. It is important to learn from the past and consider the people hurt by these words. Creating a more positive environment online helps to create a more positive, inclusive, and sensitive society in general. Calling people out also leads them to reflect on what they said and why they chose to say it. It makes them confront the people they hurt and clearly shows them the consequences of their actions. Cancel culture should be used to hold people accountable for their insensitivity and teach them to improve in the future while not crossing into the territory of punishment or censorship.