Tactics once associated with the left—outrage archaeology and retroactive shaming—are now deployed by the right against progressive media figures. This symmetry turns 'accountability' into a standing weapon, regardless of ideology, incentivizing hypocrisy exposés over substantive debate.
— It reframes cancel culture as a stable strategic equilibrium rather than a one-sided excess, implying that norms or rules need redesign to prevent tit-for-tat escalation.
James Billot
2025.10.10
68% relevant
Loomer’s self-described method—trawling targets’ posts for disfavored views (BLM support, vaccine promotion, neoconservatism), blasting it to 1.8M followers, and presenting it to Trump to precipitate dismissals—mirrors 'cancel' tactics now being deployed from the right within government staffing.
Yascha Mounk
2025.10.07
65% relevant
Mounk opens by noting both right and left invoke free speech selectively—right figures call for firings while denouncing censorship; parts of the left defend free speech only when their allies are punished—mirroring the symmetric escalation dynamic described in this idea.
David Dennison
2025.10.02
65% relevant
The article describes right‑wing online mockery and meme campaigns targeting The Savant and notes Apple TV+ pulled the show; this mirrors the dynamic where cancellation tactics are used across the spectrum, not only by the left.
Aporia
2025.09.26
90% relevant
The article documents right‑leaning figures cheering firings and urging employer reprisals after the Kirk assassination (e.g., JD Vance telling supporters to call employers) and contrasts this with earlier anti‑censorship pledges, illustrating the symmetric weaponization of 'accountability' tactics the idea describes.
Sohrab Ahmari
2025.09.19
86% relevant
The article catalogs firings and online shaming of people who celebrated or even criticized Charlie Kirk after his assassination, explicitly comparing this right‑led wave to the post‑George Floyd cycle, i.e., the same accountability tactics deployed by the opposing camp.
Nate Silver
2025.09.19
78% relevant
Silver cites conservative-driven cancellations after 9/11 (Bill Maher, Dixie Chicks, Phil Donahue) and points to Jimmy Kimmel’s current suspension after remarks about the Kirk assassination, arguing 'what goes around comes around'—a symmetrical pattern of cancellation across ideologies.
Luke Hallam
2025.09.18
80% relevant
The article describes right‑aligned officials and influencers mobilizing outrage and using institutional leverage to punish a media figure (Jimmy Kimmel), mirroring tactics long criticized on the left—now amplified by a federal regulator’s threat to ABC/Disney.
Lakshya Jain
2025.08.28
72% relevant
The poll finds each side wants to restrict out‑group speech (e.g., ~50% of Trump voters oppose a transgender rights activist on campus; ~55% of Harris voters oppose a Netanyahu talk), supporting the claim that suppression tactics are not one‑sided.
Christopher F. Rufo
2025.08.20
70% relevant
He triggers a media firestorm by resurfacing decade‑old posts—an instance of 'outrage archaeology' now used by the right against progressive media figures, illustrating symmetric tactics.
Meghan Daum
2025.08.18
100% relevant
Christopher Rufo’s August 2025 campaign targeting St. Félix’s old tweets mirrors earlier progressive pile-ons; Daum situates it within post-2014 norms.