Of course people should have the platform to debate ideas across a variety of views and political beliefs, that doesn’t mean that a) a cancel culture is taking over and b) that it should give free rein to people with some pretty horrific views. There is still enough distinction between discussing controversial ideas and giving a platform to a racist.
No one would dream of giving a platform to a Holocaust denier for example... denying that to someone would not be evidence of a cancel culture either.
Yes, but there’s clearly an issue with student groups in universities pressuring their institutions to cancel speakers from the centre to right speakers. This has even spilled over to certain left wing speakers who may have a single controversial view. Going back to Germaine Greer, she was cancelled because of her views about trans people, and her talk had nothing to do with trans issues.
Also, there is an increasing tendency on the left to exaggerate the perniciousness of conservative speakers. This was possibly been copied from the right, where they dismissed people anything to the left of social democrats as ‘Trots’, ‘communists’ and so on.
I listen to Ben Shapiro a fair bit to challenge my own assumptions about the world. But, I’m not a conservative. Since he’s outspoken about political correctness and ‘woke’ politics, amongst other things. He’s been branded ‘Alt-right’, ‘white supremacist’ and some views discounted because he is a ‘white cisgender male’. Yet, he routinely brands the ‘Alt-Right’ as evil, is Jewish, and at various points was receiving the anti-Semitic abuse from white supremacists.
I don’t really agree with Farage on a lot, but it bothers me that people call him a ‘racist’, ‘fascist’ or ‘xenophobic’ and the UKIP a ‘neo-nazi party’ (more extreme end of criticism). They’re lazy arguments and these kinds of lazy arguments is why the liberal-left have continued to lose the argument on immigration for over a decade now.
You’ve also go comedians no longer wanting to do uni gigs because of the threat of no-platforms or being ‘cancelled’. This is not a good sign.
I’m rambling. So I’ll end on one point, it’s better for people with terrible views to be challenged in public, by the public rather than to be ‘no platformed’ and driven underground.
As soon as Nick Griffin and the BNP were ‘legitimised’ by given a slot on BBC QT, they were embarrassed, Griffin looked a fool and the BNP’s support started to crumble. The best argument against no-platforms.