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Censorship in the media isn't a new phenomenon however it is becoming increasingly more apparent and controversial with the rise of "Cancel Culture." Its been defined as "withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive" No matter where you stand on the matter it is important to consider at what point is cancel culture and this forced censorship encroaching on the First Amendment.
As a journalist, I think it is important to hold public figures accountable for their actions and make sure they aren't getting away with doing or saying something offensive, although I think we need to look at who is doing the censorship and canceling and why. Social media has grown and become a large part of society and the way we function in our day-to-day lives, due to this, tech companies who run these platforms have gained a lot of power with the worldwide audience they acquired within the last 10 years. It's worrisome to think that these companies can sometimes control the narrative and pick and choose who's allowed to have a voice.
Most recently we can look at the censorship of former President Trump on social media platforms like Twitter. With the unfortunate circumstances of January 6th and the rioting on the Capital, I think it was appropriate to block his access to his account as his tweets were aggravating the situation. Although on the other hand, Trump was not only the President of the U.S. but he is also a world leader and to think that Twitter has more power to censor the sitting president at the time than the government, is for lack for lack of a better term wild.
As social media continues to run our lives we need to stay vigilant and figure out a way so that its not just four tech companies that hold all this power because it is quickly becoming a monopoly. We also need to understand that there is a difference between accountability and silencing people.
Sources that generated my thoughts:
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