UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently highlighted some of the societal impacts of cancel culture. He expressed these views at the Society of Editors conference on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
During his speech, he emphasized the importance of allowing individuals to freely express themselves without the fear of facing societal repercussions.
Evidently, editors and media leaders in London attended the conference marking the Society's 25th anniversary.
Rishi Sunak said instead of proceeding with the popular cancel culture, journalists and the entire public should allow others to air their opinions about specific topics.
He says it's a democracy, and allowing others to speak will help them learn from different perspectives and experiences.
As part of his keynote address, Rishi Sunak made a promise to partake in fighting cancel culture effects on society.
“We must tackle the chilling effect of so-called “cancel culture” and the shutting down of people’s views and making people fearful of speaking out because that’s not who we are, that’s not what this country stands for. Democracy depends on the ability to air our views, to challenge and interrogate people’s standpoints, and to learn from different perspectives and experiences,” Sunak added.
In addition to his point of view, the Prime Minister said that society cannot allow a group of people to say that their opinions are more important than those of others.
“If we value a liberal, pluralistic society, we cannot allow one group of people to say their experiences are more important than others,” he said.
The UK Prime Minister Condemns New Journalism Technology
The UK Prime Minister also spoke about the new technology used in journalism, saying it was mainly used to peddle fake news and propaganda.
While cheering the Society on its 25th anniversary of ‘championing media freedom,’ Sunak warned against the use of this new technology.
Moreover, he took time to honor journalists worldwide who are suffering in the name of democracy and the work they put out.
“New technology is being used to peddle propaganda and false narratives. Disinformation is fomenting division, undermining the truth – and journalists themselves are even becoming the victim of deep fakes. We face an axis of authoritarian states…Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China who are united by their shared antipathy to our values and our freedoms and are growing more assertive all the time,” he said.
Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Sergei Tikhanovsky, Jimmy Lai, and Narges Mohammadi were some of the journalists whom he honored for the work they had done.
Iranian-British journalist Pouria Zeraati, who was stabbed in a London street about two months ago, received a special acknowledgment.
“To Alexei Navalny, whose decision to return home to stand for his principles, when Putin had already tried to have him killed was surely one of the greatest acts of individual courage of the 21st century and to the men and women of Ukraine who are on the frontline of the fight for the values we hold dear,” he added.
He finally told the journalists to do their duties without fear or favor.