Evan Urquhart

There isn't a single characteristic that all attempts at cancelation share. So instead of a litmus test, we need a checklist of warning signs. The more signs you see, the more certain you can be that you are looking at a cancel campaign. Here are the six most important.

1) Punitiveness Are people denouncing you to your employer or your social connections? Are you being blacklisted from jobs and social opportunities? Does what is being said to or about you have the goal—or foreseeable effect—of jeopardizing your livelihood?

A critical culture seeks to correct rather than punish. In science, the only penalty for being wrong is that you lose the argument. Canceling, by contrast, seeks to punish rather than correct. The point is to make the errant suffer.

2) Deplatforming Are campaigners attempting to prevent you from publishing your work, giving speeches or attending meetings? Are they claiming that allowing you to be heard is violence against them or makes them unsafe?

A critical culture understands that it is necessary to tolerate dissent though it can seem obnoxious, harmful, hateful and, yes, unsafe. Canceling, by contrast, seeks to shut up its targets through shout-downs, disinvitations and demands for retractions.

3) Organization Does criticism appear to be organized and targeted? Are the organizers recruiting others to pile on? Are you being swarmed and brigaded? Are people hunting through your work and scouring social media to find ammunition to use against you?

In critical culture, organizing pressure campaigns against ideological targets is usually considered out of bounds. By contrast, it’s common to see cancelers organize hundreds of petition-signers or thousands of social media users to dig up and prosecute an indictment.