I am so grateful for this week's prompt. Many people have been victims of cancellation. Here comes the big question: if someone does something terrible and after investigation it helps that the person is guilty, do you think it is nice for online work to cancel them? Over the years this question has really been bad to answer because the social media platform has given some people power. Just with a few posts you will see thousands and millions of people coming together condemning someone; they may even go as far as withdrawing any support. Most of the time it may damage the person's reputation.
It is a two-sided thing; it is easy to understand. There must be times when people feel the need to speak up when someone is wrong. There must be times when people who are victims feel powerless and ignored. Social media is the only platform they can use to tell their stories. If one's a particular case is made public, it will help to bring it to light; it will mount pressure on the authorities to investigate properly. Just like what I explained, we can say speaking is an important part of accountability.
But our main concern is, where do we draw the line between accountability and punishment?
When an offence is committed, it is the responsibility of the authorities involved to investigate the situation; they should be able to tell when someone is guilty or not. If the person is found guilty, they should apply appropriate legal consequences? That is why there is a justice system. Everything has procedures; there are methods of gathering evidence, deciding on the punishment and so on.
People have this mindset that the internet is the only place their voice will be heard. The problem is the online communities take matters into their own hands because the internet doesn't operate according to principles. That is why I keep telling people to be careful of things you post and say online because the internet can never forget. Someone can be accused of something online, and instantly the person will be a target for millions of angry individuals before investigation. We have seen a situation where information was misunderstood and so on. One thing about this is the moment someone starts trending for a wrong reason, it will be hard correcting the story.
What will really happen if the person is guilty?
This is a very big question. For instance, someone commits an offence, and after investigation, the person is found guilty and receives the punishment according to law. Should society also cancel the person after paying a legal price?
There is an argument that legal punishment does not automatically restore trust. It is the right of people to decide who they want to support and who they want to be part of their personal lives. There is one thing I dislike so much: victims and the general public should not be forced or pressurised to forget or forgive or to continue supporting someone just because the person has a complete legal sentence.
There is a very big difference between choosing not to support someone and deliberately destroying someone's life, career and reputation just because you have thousands and millions of supporters online and you use that channel to destroy someone’s life. Social media gives us a powerful voice, for the fact we have the right to punish someone should there be limits for it. We can support and handle issues without turning situations into one witch hunt. Justice should not be all about making someone suffer; it should also protect the victims.
The image is generated with ChatGPT.
This is my entry on the weekly prompt #hivelearners topic: cancel culture.
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