Have you ever heard about “Cancel Culture”? Some of us might feel strange with this term, but we have definitely ever seen this, at least once in a lifetime. Cancel culture is a way of behaving in a society or group, especially on social media, which is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that is considered offending. Nobody really knows the beginning of the cancel culture concept, but some sources stated that this culture start to spread out from #MeToo movement in 2018, where a number of public figures were definitely cancelled and in the midst of having challenges to their reputation. Nevertheless, the term “cancel” itself apparently has been known since years before and was used as a mere-jokes.
Basically, anyone can be the victim of cancel culture. However, in reality, cancel culture often happens to public figures, brand, corporate, government, or whoever has the power. The idea of canceling someone coincides with a familiar pattern: A celebrity or other public figure does or says something offensive. The recent case was a cancellation toward Vogue Magazine. This cancellation propagated by making a “Vogue Challenge” trend which was some kind of support for #BlackLiveMatters movement. This trend was used as a protest action to Vogue which considered using only white models. Vogue’s editor-in-chief apologized for “hurtful and intolerant” mistakes by the magazine all over the year. Indonesia itself has several cancellation cases such as what happened to Ardhito Pramono wherefore his ten-year-old tweet, which was considered racist, was brought up and highlighted in the present. There is no valid data or statistics yet regarding cancel culture cases, nevertheless, the cases above have represented the number of cancel culture cases that happened all over the time.
Cancel culture practically is a continuance from call out culture. Call out culture appears when the disappointment toward someone or company turns into something viral which brings out their name on social media. It continues with cancellation from netizens afterward by unfollowing their social media, stop using the service, etc. We can see cancel culture from two different sides indeed. On one hand, cancel culture teaches us, notably public figures, to be more accountable and responsible about anything that we do or post on social media. On the other hand, it is being misused to give unnecessary social punishment and repress freedom of speech instead. It makes people close their eyes to someone’s viewpoint, despite the fact that the viewpoint might be not appropriate, and refuses to listen to the reason behind it. Furthermore, someone may lose their job, position, reputation, get boycotted, and humiliated merely because of the cancellation. All of these could undermine a person’s character and harm their mental health. Cancel culture is harmful for society since people are being judged based on a single incidence and not given any chance to correct their mistakes. These matters are regrettable considering every human being has the right to freedom of speech and expressions, thus they shall not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
We, as youths, need to be thoughtful on using social media. When we encounter this situation, we should see from various perspectives, whether the things that someone, brand, and company do are thoroughly wrong or only an unintentional mistake. Although they have proven wrong, we still need to take consideration into the argument given. Is it still tolerable or already lead to something offensive and harmful? We have to ensure as well if they have good intentions to correct their mistakes or not. There are things that must be emphasized: we should not have a mob mentality, where we have not known the real detail of the case yet but have already acted reactive and carried away with the flow of majority voice. We also need to raise a generation who are more responsible, critical, and thoughtful.
Cancel culture is a two-edged-sword. We must agree that being thoughtful in using social media is the key. By being thoughtful, the actualization of freedom of speech can be fulfilled.
REFERENCES
1. Cambridge Dictionary
2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. Kusumapradja A. Semua yang Perlu Kamu Tahu Soal Cancel Culture [Internet]. Cosmopolitan. 2020 [Cited on 2020 Oct 15]. Available from: https://www.cosmopolitan.co.id/article/read/6/2020/20515/semua-yang-perlu-kamu-tahu-soal-cancel-culture
4. Christy S. Polisi Moral di Balik Cancel Culture. [Internet]. Suara Kebebasan. 2020 [Cited on 2020 Oct 15]. Available from: https://suarakebebasan.id/polisi-moral-dibalik-cancel-culture/
5. Greenspan RE. How ‘cancel culture’ quickly became one of the buzziest and most controversial ideas on the internet [Internet]. Insider. 2020 [Cited on 2020 Oct 15]. Available from: https://www.insider.com/cancel-culture-meaning-history-origin-phrase-used-negatively-2020-7
CURIOUS by
Ayu Rizqiya Azizah
CIMSliography
1. Human Rights Trainer SCORP CIMSA (2019 – now)
2. Project Coordinator CIMSA FK UIN SH (2020 – now)
3. Research Supporting Division Team CIMSA FK UIN SH (2019 – 2020)