Weaponized Morality
Cancel culture and algorithmic domination allows powerful actors to orchestrate moral outrage.
Cancel culture first emerged as a strategy deployed by marginalized groups to demand social accountability against public figures or institutions deemed to have committed ethical violations.
As a mechanism of collective criticism, cancel culture is rooted in solidarity, injustice, and demand for moral recognition.
However, in an article in the journal Society, scholars argue that in the contemporary digital capitalist landscape, cancel culture has transformed from a grassroots-based practice of moral accountability to an instrument of affective governance mobilized by digital elites and platform owners.
“Algorithmic domination allows powerful actors to orchestrate moral outrage,” writes the paper’s author, H.R.P. Sianturi.
To support his argument, Sianturi uses the “Cancel Netflix” campaign, initiated by Elon Musk, to show how public anger appears organic when it is orchestrated.
“Musk engineers moral narratives, especially issues of child protection and cultural values, through structural access, symbolic capital, and algorithmic amplification,” Sianturi writes.
“This process reverses the original function of cancel culture and asserts that, in platform capitalism, power, visibility, and public affection are systemically intertwined.”
In concluding, Sianturi argues that cancel culture now occupies the intersection of morality, affect, and digital power.
“The study confirms that digital democracy relies not only on rational arguments but also on the public’s ability to understand and navigate the affective orchestrations structured by platform infrastructure.”
The full article can be downloaded here or requested through your school or library using this citation: Sianturi, H.R.P. Weaponized Morality: Cancel Culture and Algorithmic Domination in Digital Capitalism. Soc (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-026-01190-4
D.L. Lee is the author of SISTERLY LOVE, a novel about two sisters who grow apart.
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