How Can We End #CancelCulture—Tort Liability or Thumper’s Rule?

Authors

Nanci K. Carr, California State University - NorthridgeFollow

Abstract

In the Disney film Bambi, when the young rabbit Thumper says that Bambi “is kinda wobbly” and “doesn’t walk too good,” Thumper’s mother tells him “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” The Des Moines Register seems to have forgotten Thumper’s Rule when it uncovered Carson King’s teenage tweets and canceled the relationship he had built with Busch Light while raising $3 million for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. #CancelCulture is a social media phenomenon, where some people use their voices to cancel the platform enjoyed by others. It is the 2019 equivalent of the Scarlet Letter, where society takes it upon itself to punish others for perceived misdeeds. But when those attempting to cancel others go too far, they should be subject to tort liability.

Recommended Citation

Nanci K. Carr, How Can We End #CancelCulture—Tort Liability or Thumper’s Rule?, 28 Cath. U. J. L. & Tech 133 (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/jlt/vol28/iss2/6