Technology & Cancel Culture: Exploring Racism, Sexual Assault & LGBTQ Discrimination

With the rising prevalence of technology-mediated communication, cancel culture has become more rampant in the online world now more than ever. The main issues associated with cancel culture in the online world include racism, sexual assault, and discrimination against the LGBTQ community. This essay aims to identify the correlation between technology-mediated communication and cancel culture regarding racism, sexual assault, and the LGBTQ community.

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The introduction part of this essay defines the concept of technology, mediated communication (TMC). It evaluates the role played by social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter towards the proliferation of the cancel culture. The concept of boycotting individuals on social media due to their beliefs or specific actions is also introduced in this section.

The literature review section of the essay entails the evaluation of past research from secondary sources such as online databases, and other reliable magazine sources to understand the relationship between cancel culture and technology-mediated communication. Previous research and publications have played a crucial role in providing an insight into the role played by cancel culture in dealing with cases of racism, sexual assault, and discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

The third section of the essay provides the findings of the study. The study found out that cancel culture on technology-mediated communication had played a crucial role in dealing with issues of racism, sexual assault, and discrimination against the LGBTQ and inciting change in modern-day society. This section also touches on various exceptions in which cancel culture was not applicable or cases in which the culture was ineffective in instigating change.

The conclusion part of the essay examines the thesis statement and investigates whether the study was able to provide answers to the research questions.

Main Body.

From the New York times and the associated press, both reliable sources of information, cancel culture has achieved a lot in dealing with racism, sexism, and religious discrimination in the internet world. People who have committed atrocities in the past can be stopped from their work by effectively canceling them. Additionally, such people can be held accountable for their actions by reducing their popularity on social media platforms and initiating a period of irrelevance for them in society.

Racism

"The Hashtag That Changed the Oscars: An Oral History," authored by Reggie Ugwu (2020), provides an insight into the injustices that had been taking place in Hollywood for many years. The hashtag OscarsSoWhite was prompted by the academy awarding all of the 20 nominations to white artists for the first time since establishment. Celebrities such as Will and Jada Pinkett Smith boycotted the event due to a lack of diversity among nominees and encouraged others to do the same. Other changes that have been prompted by cancel culture include the NBC's Saturday night comedy show that was forced to terminate its relationship with comedian Shane Gillis after videos of him racially referring to the Chinese and also mocking the English accent of a Chinese individual (Itzkoff, 2019).

Sexual Assault

The #MeToo movement that was initiated by Taran Burke was effective in initiating change. This is as outlined in the article, "The Woman Behind Me Too Knew the Power of the Phrase When She Created It-10 Years Ago", written by Abby Ohlheiser on the Washington Post. The movement saw the prosecution of many people across the globe on charges of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination. Also, many people in different positions were forced to resign due to the rage that they were subjected to on social media platforms by followers of the movement.

The LGBTQ Community

Kevin Hart and the Dillard family are examples of figures in the entertainment industry who have been forced to apologize for their remarks or sentiments against the LGBTQ community. This is according to an article published by the Associated Press authored by Jake Coyle (2018) and another one published in 2019 by NBC News's Minyvonne Burke about an episode at HBO sports.

Findings

The study established that although cancel culture has been useful in effecting changes concerning racism, sexual assault, and discrimination against the LGBTQ community. However, the study found out that there are exceptions and limits to the extent to which cancel culture is productive. Many people have fallen victim to cancel culture for being mistakenly identified or being misquoted to hold a position of racism, sexual assault, or discrimination against the LGBTQ community. One person who notably spoke out in opposition to cancel culture was former President Barack Obama. In an article titled "What Barack Obama Gets Exactly Right About Our Toxic 'Cancel' Culture, authored by Chris Cillizza, he discusses a youth summit that the former president attended.

Conclusion

With the proliferation of technology-mediated communication, the cancel culture has become more effective in instigating change regarding matters, racism, sexual assault, and discrimination against the LGBTQ community. With the ability to express dislike about an individual's or an organization's behavior, it has allowed society to begin to be the change it wants to see. Online movements that have been established on social media platforms in the past have led to many changes. Most of the changes have taken place in the entertainment and sports industry throughout the world.