Our digital pasts weren’t supposed to be weaponized like this
In the future I suspect cancelling will be illegal: the same way vigilante justice is illegal now. Causing a person to be fired&#x2F;doxxed by a mob for an action that isn&#x27;t even illegal (free speach) is no more morally noble then going and beating them up over a suspected crime.<p>If a person commits a crime, then let courts decide, otherwise it&#x27;s just mob rule and vigilante &quot;justice&quot;.<p>That said, I think it&#x27;s going to take at least a few more decades before such a ruling is made. I suspect it will come along the lines that internet history is protected speech, and so it&#x27;s a protected work category and is illegal to fire a person over. Once companies can just point to the law and shrug, then they can ignore the online mob.<p>Additionally, one would think cancelling should fall under libel and slander laws, and the accused would be able to go after the instigators.<p>It&#x27;s uncomfortable when it&#x27;s &quot;your side&quot; that finds it&#x27;s goals at odds with human rights, but in the end we&#x27;re all better off with defending basic human rights. Policing morality is infinitely more difficult and oppressive, no matter how much it really feels good at the moment.