Key Points
- Politicians in Singapore are reportedly examining legislation to outlaw cancel culture.
- Cancel culture refers to criticising or boycotting a brand or public figure due to their behaviour.
- Some Australian politicians have criticised the practice, but could it ever be outlawed here?
The concept of cancel culture has swept the internet and society in recent years and has become the subject of ongoing debate and discussions.
Now, politicians in Singapore are examining legislation to ban or restrict it — but is this even possible?
And if it is, could it ever happen in Australia?
What is 'cancel culture', and is it a bad thing?
refers to the practice of holding brands or public figures to account, and often involves unfollowing, criticising, or taking away support due to things they have said or done.
On social media, this can often escalate to widespread condemnation, with public figures losing work and brands being boycotted.
Comedian Louis CK was 'cancelled' after allegations of sexual misconduct were made public in 2017. He had a movie pulled from distribution, was dropped from several creative projects, and temporarily stopped touring.
Author JK Rowling has been boycotted by former Harry Potter fans , while Australian rock band S and blacklisted by radio station Triple J over allegations of threatening and misogynistic behaviour.
To some, the power to 'cancel' offers a voice to those who have previously been marginalised or oppressed, and is a way to hold public figures or powerful companies to account.
To others, it represents a worrying trend and a threat to free speech.
Andrew Hughes, a lecturer at ANU with a specialty in marketing, says the practice of distancing oneself from a person or brand is not new, but has gained prominence due to social media.
"Cancel culture is where people will cancel or delete association or attachment with a brand or person based on that brand or person's engagement, or perception of doing something, or some behaviour," he said.
"But it has been (more) noticeable in recent times, because of the rise of social media and the number of social media accounts we have."
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Yassmin Abdel-Magied: Writer, social advocate, and cancel culture survivor
SBS Audio
27/03/202334:47
Is Singapore banning cancel culture?
Discussions over banning or restricting cancel culture became prominent after Singapore decriminalised gay sex in 2022.
The change was announced in August and the law was officially repealed in November.
In May, CNN reported Singapore's government was "looking at ways to deal with cancel culture".
Authorities reportedly said they were "examining existing related laws and legislation" after conservative Christians expressed concerns over being "cancelled" if they shared their opinions on LGBTIQ+ issues.
"People ought to be free to express their views without fear of being attacked on both sides," law minister Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan - better known as K Shanmugam - said in an interview with state media outlets in August.
"We should not allow a culture where people of religion are ostracised (or) attacked for espousing their views or their disagreements with LGBT viewpoints — and vice versa."
Brendan Clift, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Law School, said it was not surprising to see Singapore exploring a cancel culture ban.
"It is a conservative political environment there and the legal environment mirrors that," he said.
"(Singapore) has always closely monitored the press, and laws like fake news laws (Singapore passed laws in 2019 aimed at helping authorities tackle online fake news) bring that into digital places ... this would be something new, targeting cancel culture specifically, but to see that it is happening in Singapore is not a surprise."
Singapore's law minister K Shanmugam has told media people "ought to be free to express their views" without fear of being cancelled. Source: Getty / Pool/Getty Images
"It is very hard to imagine a law like this that wouldn’t be addressed at a couple of fundamental rights; mainly the rights of speech, assembly, and association," he said.
Mr Clift said cancel culture stems from online conversations, with people agreeing on a point of view and "perhaps follow-up actions".
"These are fundamental exercises of freedom of speech, association and - when it happens in public - assembly," he said.
"It's hard to imagine any law that could address cancel culture which wouldn’t step firmly on those other freedoms, and that is concerning to me."
Could it ever happen in Australia?
While Australian politicians, including and have publicly criticised cancel culture in the past, Mr Clift says it is unlikely Australia would ever consider laws against it.
"There is next to no chance of such a law being implemented in this country, nor should we want it to be implemented," he said.
"It is easy for people who are on the receiving end of criticism to complain about it … but they already have many legal avenues they can use to assert their rights if their interests really are infringed.
"Law of defamation is very strong in this country, there are also laws around injurious falsehood, even inducing a breach of contract."
Mr Clift said in Australia, those who are targeted by cancel culture could utilise laws around defamation, injurious falsehood, or a breach of contract where relevant.
He said it would be a "risky short-term move" and would have "serious implications" for rights and freedoms.
"Freedom of speech can't be absolute, if one engages in speech that has negative consequences one might be liable for those consequences and that is reasonable," he said.
"But I think we need to be very careful not to prevent or penalise speech that doesn't do tangible harm and just might be uncomfortable or offensive to some people, and I think that is a view most sensible lawmakers in this country would agree with."
