Coming Together or Breaking Apart: The Case Against Cancel Culture

Freedom of speech is a core value in American society. It’s no mistake that it is protected by the First Amendment to our constitution. Both our intellectual and economic lives depend on the exchange of ideas and information.

Yet today, individuals on both sides of the aisle are calling for the “cancelling” and “de-platforming”—the removal of an individual’s access to public platforms and from positions of power—of those who don’t agree with them.

Dissent is what makes democracy strong. Free speech pushes individuals to exchange ideas and allows for opinions to evolve—after all, being cancelled or shamed rarely changes a person’s opinion. Join Pacific Legal Foundation as we examine the ways free speech serves as a central tenet of innovation, community, and civil society, and how we can preserve and protect this fundamental value.