18.2. Online Shaming

While public shaming has always been a part of human culture, the Internet and social media have created new ways of doing so.

We’ve seen examples of this before with Justine Sacco, and with crowd harassment (particularly dogpiling).

We can also consider events in the #MeToo movement as public shaming of sexual harassers.

18.2.1. Aside on “Cancel Culture”

The term “cancel culture” can be used for public shaming, but is used in a variety of ways, and it doesn’t refer to just one thing.

The offense that someone is being canceled for can range from sexual assault of minors (e.g., R. Kelly, Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey), to minor offenses or even misinterpretations.

The consequences for being “canceled” can range from simply the experience of being criticized, to loss of job or criminal charges.

Given the range of things “cancel culture” can be referring to, we’ll mostly stick to talking about “public shaming.”