“But for that statement she made, I would have gone for the seminar. She is not deserving of a seat at the table. The statement was so belittling and disgraceful of her. Did he really say this that year? Wow, how come he got the post then? Definitely, he is hypocritical in nature. For he said that then, now he is saying this on no logical ground.”
We live in an era where statements such as these are common amongst individuals irrespective of the relationship. They are mostly directed at popular or well-known personalities in society. More often than not, hurtful statements like these are directed at celebrities who have to endure and not react. The condemnation equals withdrawal of support (usually public in an instant) and removal from the accorded status. In today’s world, it is broadly referred to as cancellation.
According to Wikipedia, it is the act of ostracising a person of high status. Having its origin in European countries, cancellation is becoming the norm of African society. Cancellation is fast becoming a popular concept. Individuals on account of statements made years back are said to be cancelled and ostracised from society.
Generally, culture is known to be the way of life of a group of people. Edward Tylor has said it to be the “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, customs, and many other capabilities and habits acquired by members of a society from generation to generation”. In this definition, a ground to support the claim of cancellation being a culture is arrived at. According to Pop Dictionary, cancel culture is the popular practice of withdrawing support from public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. In a technologically advanced world, social media has become a tool through which cancel culture has gained its popularity.
While we live in a free world entrenched in the democratic and fundamental right to free speech, there seems to be a thin line between hate speech and cancellation. While it is said to be mere freedom of expression, there appears a thin line between cancellation and hate speech. Hate speech, to the Cambridge Dictionary, is the “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.” A majority of states have campaigned and stood against hate speech as it is potent enough to rile up and birth violence. In Nigeria, there are ongoing debates on the passing of the Hate Speech Bill into law.
For the words employed in both concepts, the misunderstanding is understandable. All the same, there is the thin line; a difference. While cancellation is to express disappointment, hate speech has the intention to express hate. Cancellation is similar to criticism while outright blasphemy has hate speech to be similar. Also, where hate speech has been regarded as a civil wrong or/and criminal offence (depending on the gravity) in some countries, cancellation is an emerging reality.
Cancel culture has become a norm. It has become a case of throwing a baby away with the bathwater. Rather than constructively critique an individual’s action, he or she is immediately cancelled. In several cases, most of the individuals said to be cancelled are misunderstood. In other cases, individuals are cancelled with an intention to greatly punish them. The question arises, how effective or potent is the cancel culture?
Fathia Abolore Yusuf
