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Comedian Rowan Atkinson: Cancel Culture ‘Like A Medieval Mob’

British star has a long history of defending free speech against the language police

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Rowan Atkinson, famous for portraying the characters Mr Bean and Blackadder, has once again hit headlines for slamming the rise of a destructive cancel culture.

In an interview with the UK’s Radio Times, Atkinson described online trolls trying to ban everything as “the digital equivalent of the medieval mob.”

“The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of society,” he said.

“It becomes a case of either you’re with us or against us. And if you’re against us, you deserve to be ‘cancelled’,” the British comedian emphasised.

Atkinson also blasted social media, saying that it fills him with “fear about the future,” because it continues to lower tolerance for differing opinions, which widens divisions in society.

“What we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn,” Atkinson urged.

He noted that he has been on the end of the hate mob, not only owing to some of the skits in Mr Bean, many of which were written 30 years ago, but also because of his long history of standing up for free speech.

“It is scary for anyone who’s a victim of that mob and it fills me with fear about the future,” Atkinson declared.

Atkinson opposed the introduction of so called ‘hate speech’ laws in 2005, describing the legislation as like taking “sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

Atkinson also opposed the introduction of homophobic ‘hate speech’ clauses into UK law in 2009.

At the time in 2009, Atkinson outlined where such moves to quell speech were heading, prophesising “a culture of censoriousness, a questioning, negative and leaden attitude that is encouraged by legislation of this nature.”

The comedian warned that it would only be “considerably and meaningfully alleviated by [a] free speech clause.”

In 2012, Atkinson further railed against “insulting” behaviour being classed as a criminal offence.

“The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy, can be interpreted as insult,” Atkinson stated at the time during an impassioned defence of free speech:

In 2020, Atkinson was again targeted by the mob he speaks about when he publicly opposed Scotland’s ‘hate crimes’ bill, saying that it “risked stifling freedom of expression, and the ability to articulate or criticise religious and other beliefs”.

Several other comedians have railed against the rise of cancel culture, including Monty Python star John Cleese, The Office creator Ricky Gervais, the ‘podfathers’ Joe Rogan and Adam Carolla, as well as Bill Burr and ‘politically incorrect’ star Dave Chapelle, to name just a few.

Cancel culture has seen some comedians self-censoring in order to appease the mob:

Comedy is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to cancel culture, however. There are signs that its tentacles are penetrating deeply into all aspects of society.

A recent study by leading education focused think tank Civitas revealed that free speech at the world’s leading universities is being eroded at an alarming rate.

The study found that within the past three years, more than 68 per cent of universities in the UK have seen free speech severely restricted, with academics unable to meaningfully discuss the nuances of issues such as race and gender.

The report notes that universities including Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, three of the world’s premiere institutions are among those that have fallen into a “red” category for free speech following instances of “no platforming” of scheduled speakers.

Last year, 150 of the world’s top intellectuals, authors and activists signed an open letter decrying leftist cancel culture, censorship and the totalitarian march of “ideological conformity.”

The letter warned that cancel culture is creating a climate of risk aversion that is preventing anyone from dissenting from the monolithic consensus of social justice rhetoric, creating a “stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time.”

In the US, the Deputy Secretary of The Department of Homeland Security also recently warned that the actions of tech companies in embracing cancel culture, and censoring opinions they do not agree with constitutes a “grave threat to national security.”

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He F*cked Around And Found Out

The story of Mizzy.

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A TikTok ‘prankster’ who filmed himself committing crimes for clout is being exploited by censorship advocates to call for the passing of anti-free speech legislation.

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Watch: Musk Warns Bill Maher ‘Woke Mind Virus’ Is Existential Threat To Civilization

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“I, at least, think of myself as a moderate,” Elon Musk told Bill Maher during an appearance Friday night on the comedian’s HBO show.

Despite being decried by all asunder as a ‘far-right conservative operative’ or some such hyperbole, Musk said:

“I spent a massive amount of my life energy building sustainable energy, you know, electric vehicles, and batteries, and solar. It’s not exactly far-right.”

Musk made his opinion clear a year ago – he hasn’t changed, the world has…

And somehow in all this divisive bullshit, ‘allowing’ free speech has become a virtue of the far-right, the enablers of violence, the fascists

“Free speech used to be a left or liberal value, and yet we see from the quote ‘left’ a desire to actually censor, and that seems crazy.”

“I think we should be extremely concerned about anything that undermines the First Amendment,” Musk said.

More explicitly regarding his acquisition or, and changes made at, Twitter, Musk said:

“My concern with Twitter was to that it is somewhat of the digital town square and it’s important that there be both the reality and perception of trust for a wide range of viewpoints.

Maher responded that he does not tweet any more because “it’s too easy to get canceled” by a mob.

“Because you may be the mayor of tweet town now and I’m glad – I like it that the mayor likes my jokes – but the reason I don’t do it anymore is because the mob of mean girls is still there and that has not changed. 

Like, it’s too easy to get canceled and I don’t even know what pisses them off: they’re so nuts, these kids. 

I feel like I’m walking on a roof with a blind fold: I could fall off anytime, that was the most innocuous thing, but it’s like, you know, I said George Washington was a great president – oh how dare you,” Maher continued.

You have to say, like, what does canceled mean? You know – I mean, yes, if people attack you on Twitter that’s one thing – but frankly that’s just going to increase engagement. So I would just ignore it,” Musk replied somewhat prosaically.

And so Maher stepped it up a little more:

“You have talked about this woke mind virus in really apocalyptic terms,” Maher asked Musk

 “I don’t – you should explain why you don’t think it’s hyperbole to say things like it’s pushing civilization towards suicide. First of all, what is the woke mind virus?”

Musk responded much more clearly this time:

“I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech,” Musk said.

“So, those are two of the aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous, is that it’s often very anti-meritocratic, and you can’t question things. Even the questioning is bad.”

Maher agreed, and asked Musk where he thinks this ‘woke mind virus’ originated from:

“I was trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I think it’s actually been a long time brewing, in that it’s – I think it’s been going on for a while, and the amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is I think far beyond what parents realize,” Musk said.

Watch the full interview below:

This post was originally published at Zero Hedge

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Belief in a ‘Higher Power’ Surges Amongst American Youth

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Faith in a higher power amongst young people in the United States is surging.

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