Cultural Consumption, Social Media, and Polarization. Cancel Culture as a Practice of Cultural Resistance and its Critical Issues

Cancel culture (CC) has emerged as a highly significant phenomenon in the global context, particularly regarding cultural consumption dynamics and cultural restitution (Stec et al., 2023). Digital platforms, with their ability to instantly connect millions of people, have transformed CC into an interconnected and pervasive phenomenon, capable of migrating offline and influencing business, political, editorial decisions, and contemporary cultural practices (Symons, 2022) while spreading in the platform ecosystem (Van Dijck et al., 2018). On one side, movements advocate social justice, equality, and progressive change, on the other, groups defend traditional values and cultural heritage. This clash is often played out on digital platforms, where CC becomes a battleground for competing ideologies as fringe content migrates from the edges of the online ecosystem to the mainstream arena in an «osmotic process» (Meraz and Papacharissi, 2013). By examining the interplay between CC, the commodification of activism, and fringe democracy, this contribution aims to provide an understanding of CC at the intersection of accountability and entertainment. While visibility and support are crucial for driving change, genuine social movements face new challenges as calls for social justice and purposes of private platforms collide.