A number of high-profile celebrities and public figures have banded together to slam the recent surge of so-called ‘cancel culture’, claiming free speech is becoming too constricted and healthy debate is necessary. It comes in response to movies and television programs being cut from screens, and even classic books being condemned, due to outdated or offensive content.
Over the past month, movies and episodes of TV programs, such as Fawlty Towers, have been removed from streaming services as support for the Black Lives Matter movement both in Australia and overseas continues to grow. However, not everyone has agreed with the decision to axe historic content, including a group of over 150 writers, academics and activists who this week published an open letter denouncing the “restriction of debate”.
The likes of J.K. Rowling and Margaret Atwood joined together to compile the letter published in Harper’s Magazine. They applauded the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests for racial and social justice which have been carried out in recent weeks following the tragic death of American man George Floyd who was killed during an arrest earlier this year. However, they argued that the “free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted” and people are being punished for sharing their opinions on different matters.
I was very proud to sign this letter in defence of a foundational principle of a liberal society: open debate and freedom of thought and speech.https://t.co/noh8VRHMyN
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 7, 2020
“Editors are fired for running controversial pieces; books are withdrawn for alleged inauthenticity, journalists are barred from writing on certain topics; professors are investigated for quoting works of literature in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a peer-reviewed academic study; and the heads of organisations are ousted for what are sometimes just clumsy mistakes,” the letter read.
“Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal. We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement.”
They went on to argue that this “constriction” of free speech is damaging, particularly to those who lack power, and claimed it could lead to less democratic participation. Meanwhile, the fear of being punished for speaking ones views was also highlighted as a major concern for writers who may want to experiment and may make mistakes along the way.
“We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences,” the letter read. “If we don’t defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn’t expect the public or the state to defend it for us.”
The letter has since gone viral, spreading quickly across social media platforms and leading to further discussion around the cancel culture and how things should be handled. But, not everyone agreed with what they had to say.
“I’m really heartened to see how thoroughly honest intellectuals have seen through the fatuous dishonestly of the @Harpers ‘cancel culture; letter and its bogus defence of ‘free speech’,” @mbalter wrote on Twitter. “Those who signed it without giving it much thought should renounce it quickly.”
“Every one who thinks that Harper’s letter was supporting free speech needs to go back to elementary school. You’ve failed fifth grade civics,”@Susannah_Nix commented. “How have we given so many uninformed voices such a prominent place in our public discourse? This is embarrassing for everyone.”
However, there were some who agreed with what the writers, academics and activists wrote in their open letter.
“I agree with this letter completely,” @john_boyne wrote on Twitter. “Self-appointed witch-finders hounding people for perceived moral slip-ups while trashing reputations, destroying careers, shouting down women and pursuing cancel culture is the opposite of free speech and reasoned debate.” While @kriscerone added: “Read the letter. I agree with them completely.”
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