Cancel Culture

What is cancel culture?

Canceling people who do anything controversial

Cancel culture is the desire to ostracize a person or company when they do something disagreeable. It's especially prominent on social sites, like Twitter and Facebook where Internet users band together to "cancel" other objectionable users.

The term became prevalent in 2019 to describe the mobs of Internet users that come together to silence, or "get rid of" others that have done something objectionable.

Cancel culture partially grew out of the #MeToo movement, which began in 2017 when victims of sexual abuse started to publicly come forward to share their stories. While the #MeToo movement provided a platform for victims that was empowering, the swift punishment doled out to those accused led to the growth of cancel culture on the web.

A prominent criticism of "cancel culture" is that people are jumping to conclusions without due diligence. Another criticism is that users are dismissing people for minor transgressions instead of working through differences of perspective to get to a shared understanding.

Example

The cancel culture is attacking our freedom of speech!
Not really, you're allowed to say it but now there are more significant consequences, at least online
Cancel culture folks remember
Cancel culture folks remember

Related Slang

Categories

Updated November 20, 2020

Cancel culture definition by Slang.net

This page explains what the slang term "Cancel culture" means. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been written and compiled by the Slang.net team.

We are constantly updating our database with new slang terms, acronyms, and abbreviations. If you would like to suggest a term or an update to an existing one, please let us know!