# What Do We Mean By ‘Cancelled’?

Online criticism takes many forms & has many purposes, and we confuse them to
our peril.

* * *

### What Do We Mean By ‘Cancelled’?

Online criticism takes many forms & has many purposes, and we confuse them to
our peril.

The differences fall upon several dimensions:

  * is the target a public person (such as a celebrity) or a private person?
  * is the criticism an illustration for the purpose of discussion, or do we want to motivate some kind of action?
  * if we want to motivate action, are we trying to spread awareness so that people can individually decide whether they want to support someone, or are we trying to organize a no-platforming campaign? Or, are we looking to inform authorities of a crime? Or are we trying to minimize future harm in the face of a pattern of abuse by informing people who might otherwise become victims?
  * are we condemning an action as foolish, or as malicious? Are we condemning it as dangerous?

While it’s possible for a particular person to intend a particular instance of
‘cancellation’ to fall anywhere on any of these spectra, there are natural
clusters. For instance, a public person who spreads dangerous disinformation
with malicious intent will justify a no-platforming campaign; a public or
private person who commits a dangerous crime (whether out of ignorance or
malice) in the course of their work will tend to have their bosses informed; a
private person who acts foolishly will generally merely be the subject of
discourse.

There is a lucrative industry specializing in misinterpreting all forms of
‘cancellation’ as the most extreme form: the no-platforming and firing of
private persons for foolishness. We should be careful to talk about
cancellation in such a way that these folks find this misrepresentation more
difficult, and in such a way that people who don’t understand the nuances (and
perhaps have lent their ears to this particular brand of huckster, coming away
with misconceptions) will not easily misunderstand our intent.

 _(Adapted from_[ _a
thread_](https://mobile.twitter.com/enkiv2/status/1281022164834156546) _)_

By [John Ohno](https://medium.com/@enkiv2) on [July 9,
2020](https://medium.com/p/bb799aae8555).

[Canonical link](https://medium.com/@enkiv2/what-do-we-mean-by-cancelled-
bb799aae8555)

Exported from [Medium](https://medium.com) on September 18, 2020.