In a world run by social media, it’s hard to hide your past from prying eyes. It has now become quite a normal occurrence for old mistakes celebrities made in their youth to resurface online and go viral. What ensues shortly after is what the internet has coined as canceling. The celebrity in question has their career ripped to shreds in a matter of days, all their dirty laundry laid out for the world to see. While this seems like a just punishment in some instances, what business do we have judging people for things they did when they were younger?

Cancel culture started as a way to hold people accountable, but now people are getting canceled for some ridiculous reasons, and their lives are never the same after. How are we as a society going to preach things like “learn from your mistakes” and then proceed to cancel someone over some trivial issue, thus ruining their whole reputation.

             One of the most common scandals people get canceled for is ancient tweets containing racist comments or slurs. In most cases, the tweets get dug up from well over 10 years ago, and most people change pretty drastically over the course of 10 years. Not to say that a racist comment or a racial slur are excusable offenses, because they aren’t, but the fact that people get their entire lives ruined over things they probably would never say nowadays is the issue here. If a person is able to own their offense, apologize, and actively work towards becoming a better human, why should we as outsiders have the power to blacklist them?

              At the same time, if someone deletes their old ignorant tweets, but there’s a copy of them somewhere, that can also be cause for cancellation. If the public is made aware that someone deleted their old tweets without acknowledging why they decided to take them down, it’s often assumed it was an attempt to hide their past

Claudia Oshry, a social media personality, defined cancel culture as, “Whether a celebrity missteps, misspeaks, or commits an actual crime, they’re tried in the court of public opinion and—often too quickly—deemed canceled, or over.” 

While it can be unnecessary in some instances, cancel culture has a good side. For example, when Travis Scott’s music festival turned deadly, he was promptly canceled and held accountable for not handling the situation well. Unfortunately, his cancellation did not last long, as people tend to ignore things like this after a while. Once Scott thought he could face actual negative repercussions, he offered to pay for the  funeral expenses of the 11 people who were killed. This led fans to continue supporting Scott, and he did not end up being canceled like originally thought. 

SSU student William Hunt said,  “The responsibility should have been placed on all those involved instead of just the performer,” in reference to the Travis Scott festival.

Similarly, with the rise of TikTok, more and more people are using the app to call people out for their wrongdoings. Usually, a user will make a video exposing someone’s unsavory behavior that they posted, and the video typically goes viral. This viral video then causes the person at fault to face real world consequences like being fired from their job or being expelled from school. 

Ashley Cain, a Sonoma State graduate, commented, “If someone is constantly being ignorant with no intention or plans to grow then cancellation is more appropriate,” she went on, “There is an air of responsibility to not  continuously spread harmful agendas and reinforce oppressive narratives that as a society we are working hard to change in the name of equity.”

 While there is free speech, the fact that people can go around sharing their hurtful, negative opinions and think they will be exempt from any consequences is harmful.