Allow Me to Retort

The First Amendment protects people from government repression, not from “cancel culture.”

Politicians, public intellectuals, university professors, writers and media personalities fret about cancel culture, particularly when someone says something racist, sexist, antisemitic or homophobic and ends up losing a magazine column, publishing contract, speaking engagement or professorship. Then, they decry censorship and argue that the culture violates their “free speech” rights.

The First Amendment protects people principally against the government silencing political speech and protest. Those who protest against cancel culture seldom take action when real First Amendment rights are at issue. For example, they remained silent in 2020 when Attorney General William Barr allowed the suppression of an otherwise peaceful protest outside the White House or when billionaire Peter Thiel sued the independent news site Gawker into extinction. Authentic First Amendment rights are threatened when those who disagree with protestors demand that the police attack them or when those who find a news story distasteful bombard the...