< Freedom of speech > is a foundational ideograph in the American and more broadly, Western, tradition. Yet this term is not static in its meanings or commitments to social action. The current debate around cancel culture is the site of renegotiation of < freedom of speech > in relation to other terms such as < open debate >, < justice >, < marginalized >, < tolerance >, < democracy >, and < power >. This study is an ideographic analysis of two artifacts that represent two sides of the < freedom of speech > discussion: “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” and “A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate.” Following McGee’s theory and method, this research examines the diachronic definition of < freedom of speech > through the U. S. Supreme Court and the liberty model and the synchronic tensions surrounding < freedom of speech > represented in these two editorials. The analysis identifies < justice > as an inadequate and detrimental synecdoche in the renegotiation and suggests that there is no appropriate synecdoche because < freedom of speech > is prerequisite to all public debate. This renegotiation is happening now because of disparities between the ideal of < freedom of speech > and its material reality in society. Further, because < freedom of speech > has not been sufficiently defined and its alternatives explained and rebutted, it is being devalued in current society. Finally, the prevalence of the internet as a public square raises questions about protected speech as have all new media in the past. The study shows that one vision must eventually dominate because they are fundamentally irreconcilable within a single political union. The analysis concludes with an outline of the two moral visions presented in each letter and the consequences of adopting each.

Moral outrage is an emotional, cognitive, and behavioral response to moral violations, resulting in a desire to punish the transgressor. Previous literature on moral outrage was limited in its examination of cognitive components and in the consideration of potential sources of moral outrage beyond transgressive behaviors. Through two studies, I addressed (a) cognitions and judgements integral to moral outrage, and (b) how different sources of moral outrage impacted overall moral outrage, as well as its cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components. In Study 1, I examined a literature-derived list of 42 cognitions and judgements about the transgressor in response to a morally outrageous news story. Using EFA and SEM models, I narrowed down and supported four subscales of potential cognitions related to moral outrage: judgements that the transgressor was Villainous, Intentional, Uncaring, and Harmful. Each subscale was internally consistent, though only Villainous and Intentional subscales were found to be uniquely and consistently predictive of moral outrage. In Study 2, I manipulated the moral outrage source in several scenarios presented as fictional news article about a YouTube star and his involvement with a disturbing viral video, following a 4 (moral outrage source: action, belief, affiliation, control) X 3 (topic: physical assault, zoophilia, stealing tips) design. Results showed a complex relationship between the moral outrage source and the strength of moral outrage, as well as each of its components. Interaction effects of source x topic also impacted multiple variables, where the pattern between each source condition differed depending on which vignette topic the participant had read. Broadly speaking, there were mixed results as to whether moral outrage toward a transgressive belief was equally strong as that toward a transgressive action (as seen in my previous research), or somewhat weaker. There was also novel support for the presence of a moderate level of moral outrage toward a person for their affiliation to a transgressive entity, even if the person had no personal transgressive actions or beliefs. The patterns of emotions, cognitions, and behavioral reactions varied slightly from overall moral outrage in unique ways that encourage future study. This research has implications for political polarization, cancel culture, and recognizing the cognitive component of moral outrage, a construct thus far defined primarily through its emotional components.

Cancel culture is a debated phenomenon both in social and traditional media. The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing conversation and discussion regarding cancel culture using semi-structured interviews with informants of the generation millennials. The study depicts the informants’ options of cancel culture including both the positive and the negative consequences. In order to reach a broader sense of understanding and a better insight in how the phenomenon affects society, cancel culture is put in a context of freedom of speech. Keith Tester's theory about the social thought as well as Jürgen Habermas theory regarding public sphere is used in order to fulfil the study's aim and answer related issues. The study’s conclusion demonstrates how the millennials have in general a negative perception of cancel culture and how the phenomenon generates destructive consequences such as hate online. Apositive outcome of cancel culture is the possibility to elucidate and reform structural social problems. Furthermore, knowledge of cancel culture to get a vast understanding of the phenomenon and its effects is established in the discussion of the study. / Cancel culture är ett modernt fenomen som är omdiskuterat både i sociala och traditionella medier. Syftet med studien är att bidra till den pågående diskussionen kring cancel culture genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med informanter ur generationen millennials. Studien skildrar informanternas åsikter kring cancel culture samt dess positiva respektive negativa konsekvenser. Cancel culture sätts även i relation till yttrandefrihet för att få en bredare förståelse av fenomenets inverkan på samhället. Tidigare forskning redovisar olika perspektiv av fenomenet, som använts för att öka förståelsen av denna studie. Keith Testers teori om den sociala frågan och Jürgen Habermas teori om det publika rummet bidrar till att studien uppnår sitt syfte och besvarar frågeställningarna. Slutsatsen visar hur studiens millennials har en generellt negativ uppfattning av cancel culture och hur cancel culture genererar destruktiva konsekvenser i form av hat online. En positiv följd av cancel culture är det ges möjlighet att belysa och förändra strukturella samhällsproblem. Ytterligare kunskaper krävs för att förstå fenomenet och dess effekt i samhället, något som tas upp i diskussionsdelen.

One measure that groups of people have always taken is to ostracize the individuals who violate social norms. This is still going on today, even in digital form. Cancel culture is a prevailing internet phenomenon on social media where public figures are banned from influence after saying or performing a, according to the public, wrongful act. The phenomenon is, to say the least, debated and controversial but nevertheless lacks detailed scientific work. The purpose of this study is to investigate young adults' participation in cancel culture and to shed light on possible reasons why they maintain and conduct cancel culture on social media, which was carried out with the help of the main question:  - How do young adults in Sweden reason about their participation in cancel culture on social media and why do they choose to participate? Through a qualitative interview survey, where eight respondents shared their experiences and opinions on their participation, conclusions could be drawn. The results showed that the interviewees' reasoning was positive in the sense that their participation had positive consequences for themselves and that they participate partly to show their position and thus be part of the group, and partly to command the justice that the judiciary has failed to do. / En åtgärd som grupper av människor alltid har vidtagit är att frysa ut de individer som bryter mot de sociala normerna. Detta pågår än idag, även i digital form. Cancel culture är ett rådande internetfenomen på sociala medier där offentliga personer blir bannlysta från inflytande efter att ha sagt eller utfört en, enligt allmänheten, felaktig handling. Fenomenet är minst sagt omdebatterat och kontroversiellt men saknar trots detta utförligt vetenskapligt arbete. Den här studien har i syfte att undersöka unga vuxnas medverkan i cancel culture samt belysa möjliga orsaker till varför de upprätthåller och bedriver cancel culture på sociala medier, vilket genomfördes med hjälp av huvudfrågeställningen: - Hur resonerar unga vuxna i Sverige kring sin medverkan i cancel culture på sociala medier och varför väljer de att delta? Genom en kvalitativ intervjuundersökning, där åtta respondenter berättade om sina upplevelser och åsikter kring sin medverkan, kunde slutsatser dras. Resultatet visade på att intervjupersonernas resonemang var positiva i den bemärkelsen att deras deltagande fick positiva konsekvenser för dem själva och att de medverkar dels för att visa sin ståndpunkt och därmed vara en del av gruppen, och dels för att själva skipa den rättvisa som rättsväsendet misslyckats med.

I samband med den befintliga medieutvecklingen har fenomenet cancel culture ökat i aktualitet. Det växte fram på sociala medier men sker idag både inom digitala och traditionella medier. Ett uppmärksammat svenskt fall av cancel culture skedde våren 2020 då Paolo Roberto genomförde köp av sexuella tjänster. Han erkände offentligt på Instagram, vilket skapade en nyhetsstorm som ledde till att han blev cancellerad. Studiens syfte är att undersöka om nyhetsmedier kan bidra till cancel culture. Det genom att studera svenska nyhetsmediers sätt att rapportera om fallet Paolo Roberto. Två artiklar från tre olika svenska nyhetsmedier analyserades: Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, och Expressen. Det med hjälp av kritisk diskursanalys. Sedan applicerades teorierna kritisk teori samt gestaltningsteori på resultatet. Studien fann att rapporteringen bidrar till cancel culture genom inramningarna i nyhetsmedierna. Likheter och skillnader mellan artiklarna kunde urskiljas, exempelvis gällande neutralitet och formuleringar. Vidare påvisades tendenser i de studerade artiklarna som bidrar till cancel culture, bland annat genom citat, rubriceringar och infallsvinklar. Alla nyhetsmedierna uppvisade dessutom ett bakomliggande ekonomiskt intresse och moraliskt ställningstagande. / In relation to the current media development, the phenomenon of cancel culture has increased in relevance. It emerged on social media but takes place in both digital and traditional media today. A well-known Swedish case of cancel culture occurred in the spring of 2020 when Paolo Roberto purchased sexual services. He publicly confessed to it on Instagram, which generated attention from news outlets that led to his cancellation. The purpose of the study is to investigate if news outlets can contribute to cancel culture. This will be done by analyzing Swedish news outlets’ way of reporting about the case of Paolo Roberto. Two articles each from three different Swedish news outlets were analyzed: Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, and Expressen. This was done using critical discourse analysis. We then applied the theories critical theory and the framing theory to the result. The study found that news outlets contribute to cancel culture through framings. We found both similarities and differences between the articles, for example regarding neutrality and wording. Furthermore, we found tendencies in the reporting that could contribute to cancel culture, for example through quotes, headings, and framings. Moreover, all the articles showed an underlying economic interest and moral standpoints.

Much research exists on cancel culture and cultural gatekeeping. However, there is little research on more recent examples of cancel culture stemming from the Netherlands. The current study sought to examine how active Twitter users have responded to what I have titled, the Rijneveld translation controversy on Twitter. This controversy involves questions of racism or reverse racism after a Dutch White translator, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, reversed their decision to translate works of the African-American writer, Amanda Gorman after receiving much backlash from the public. This was followed by debates on Twitter causing an uproar. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the different issue- frames tweeted about by active Twitter users through a qualitative content analysis. In order to inquire into the opinions addressed at various stages of the controversy, tweets were collected over the course of three different time periods. A general observation was that a majority of Twitter users were upset by the pushback Rijneveld received and even regarded the situation as an example of “reverse racism” and radical wokeism. Moreover, several different actors/stakeholders were targeted or “called-out” by the “Twitter mob,” including the Dutch journalist, Janice Deul who led part of the pushback against Rijneveld. These issues are substantially less about the art and craft of translation and reflect a broader societal issue that Twitter users felt a need to address through this controversy.

ABSTRACT Date2022-06-01 Level: Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalens University Authors Ayari, Loïs                  Yousef, Nina (00/10/25)                  (99/10/21) Title: An exploratory qualitative study on the impact of cancel   culture on the consumer-beauty influencer relationship. Tutor: Safari, Aswo Keywords: Influencer, beauty, cancel culture, consumer, trust, commitment Research question: How does the cancel culture phenomenon affect the relationship between the consumer and the beauty influencer? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the cancel culture phenomenon affects the relationship between the consumer and the beauty influencer. Method: This study was conducted through a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. The conceptual model was based on the theoretical concepts and the actors within the relationship. Three focus group interviews conducted consisted of 6, 7 and 6 participants. The focus groups interviews were transcripted manually by the authors. The data extracted from the focus groups were analyzed using a thematic analysis based on the conceptual model. Conclusion: The findings and the analysis of this study provided an answer to the research question. It showed that the consumer’s trust is negatively affected by cancel culture and thus, decreases when this phenomenon occurs. This happens mainly because of a disruption of the perceived shared values and the beauty influencer’s failure. Moreover, the findings revealed that the consumer’s commitment is negatively affected by the cancellation. This was motivated by the decrease in the consumer’s trust along with the disruption of perceived shared values. Therefore, the consumer and beauty influencer’s relationship is negatively affected by the cancel culture phenomenon.

Cancel culture has been described by some as a form of online activism. It has also been argued as activism with both negative and positive effects. For the positive side, cancel culture has worked to emphasize the representation and voice of women during the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment at workplaces. On the other hand, cancel culture has a reputation for being "activism-for-bad" when it silences the voice of people that may contribute to the area of communication for development and social change. For example, it is said to have stifled academic freedom and restricted open debates in cultural institutions. The aim of this thesis is to examine how cancel culture determines whose representation and voice is heard, and has it evolved from being a tool of activism to one that is said to threaten democratic participation? The thesis analyses six online articles that appears as the top results on Google Search during a specific timeline between the period of 2015 - 2021. These timelines were determined from Google Trends® by looking at when the term 'cancel culture' were trending highest on the internet. Applying methodological framework based on the theories of Critical Discourse Analysis, this thesis sets out to analyse words and terms used in these online articles that contributed to the discourse on cancel culture and analyses its relations to representation and voice.

In just a few years, cancel culture has become the topic on everyone's lips. It's an exciting, but also to a certain extent a treacherous phenomenon that has etched into our society, both online and offline. It moves quickly and is constantly changing, but where does it come from, and what drives it?  In this study, I map out how cancel and call-out culture are constructed by conducting a research overview. The theoretical framework consists of theories about the scapegoat mechanism, the public sphere, and digital activism. The material consists of 33 peer-reviewed articles.  The results show that research has been conducted across several research areas, with the majority of the articles falling under the field of media and communication studies. There are divided opinions about the impact of cancel culture on the public debate. Some scholars define cancel and call-out culture on one hand as political tools that promote public debate and that can help access fundamental problems such as racism and sexism. On the other hand, the phenomena are defined as threats to democracy as the resurrection that arises when these phenomena are exercised can draw attention away from more important and more acute societal issues. Furthermore, the results show that cancel culture depends on a cross-platform engagement. Since the majority of the articles examine Twitter, this indicates that more studies need to be conducted to fully understand how cancel culture works.

Cancelkultur kan beskrivas som kulturell ostracism och har kommit att bli ett omdebatterat Ämne i Sverige och övriga västvärlden, detta till följd av människors skilda åsikter om dess innebörd och betydelse. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa hur fenomenet cancelkultur skildras och diskuteras i svenska opinionsartiklar. Studien tar sin ansats i Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys för att synliggöra på vilket sätt opinionsjournalister konstruerar bilden av cancelkultur och vilka diskurser som är närvarande. Med hjälp av Faircloughs tredimensionella modell har tre artiklar djupare analyserats för att undersöka om dessa reproducerar eller utmanar den rådande diskursordningen. Resultatet visar att det pågår en diskursiv kamp om hur begreppet cancelkultur framställs och får sin betydelse. Utöver den pågående kampen visar resultatet att journalisterna åberopar, i en svensk kontext, förgivettagen kunskap för att visa på textens legitimitet.