Current Events > Is there any evidence that canceling/ alienating/deplat'ing pushes people right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

You know, people being like "calling everyone racist is just going to alienate them" (and become racist), "suppressing wrongthink is just going to drive more people to that side", etc. Nah, I say fuck em. I think there absolutely are things that we need to shame the hell out of people for believing, even if they think it's "mainstream" conservatism. Just because it's popular doesn't make it okay, and if we don't nip it in the bud it'll just turn into something crazier. Plus I'm sure all these people have some threshold for things they think are not okay to say.

To answer my own question, I don't know if there are any hard numbers, but I don't really believe it swings many people from left to right. Not to say it never happens but I think it's a net benefit to try to shame away. It does seem like it might push people who are already right leaning further down the rabbithole though.

Y'know what I mean

There is evidence that deplatforming works.

Deplatforming can limit their audience and thus reduce spread of the ideas, but the "shaming" tactics usually don't work, because the only people who'll join in are people who were always against the target in the first place (or always would have been if they knew them).

There's always the risk of the Streisand Effect too, although most of the stuff that people get targetted by "cancel culture" for is widely spread enough that it's more about "who supports it?" rather than any possibility people might not have heard the views themself yet.

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Deplatforming works. Just look at Milo.
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Seeing as being on the left get "cancelled" all the time. They just don't act persecuted when it happens. Rules affect everyone just some groups can't deal with it when the rules target them.

No canceling doesn't push people.to the right.

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None that I'm aware of.

Deplatforming "quietly" works (like Trump bans).

Deplatforming "loudly" by screaming at people until they resign / go into hiding / delete their accounts does not seem to have any net positive or negative effects and tends to fuel both sides ism.

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I agree about deplatforming, maybe I should have been more clear and left that one out.

I don't know if alienating/canceling is that effective on an individual basis but I think it helps over time. Even the staunchest of right wingers, for example, generally don't dare to be homophobic anymore. I don't like to say that though because I'd rather focus on positive acceptance, but that's always going to come with opponents and I don't think that ignoring them completely is usually effective.