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03 February 2021 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7919 / Categories: Features , Human rights , Technology
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The dark arts: Cancel culture & freedom of speech

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Nicholas Dobson navigates the murky world of free speech & cancel culture

Back in 1971 Coca-Cola ran a TV advertisement offering universal harmony in a bottle of Coke. All together now: ‘I‘d like to teach the world to sing/In perfect harmony/I’d like to buy the world a Coke/And keep it company.’ Some years later the internet was able to offer universal connectivity, if not always harmony.

But, as the COVID-19 lockdown demonstrated, the internet can be a force for good. Since 23 March 2020 when the stop whistle blew on normal life, it’s been the internet that’s kept people and businesses connected, enabled online shopping, afforded smooth remote working and video connectivity for many and kept life’s essentials ticking. The internet has also developed into an astonishingly rich and deep mine of information on all aspects of the human condition.

But, of course, in every Eden lurks a serpent. And once again the oily snake is human nature itself. For if an invention can do good, it

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