How to Cancel “Cancel Culture”

Self-styled “conservatives” claim to support freedom of speech against the oppressive left, but protecting right-wing free speech alone won’t turn the tide in the culture war; that can only be accomplished through censorship of the left. How would that be done?

It would be a big job. Most of it would have to be accomplished purely at the local level. You could, for example, require all teachers, professors, and librarians to pass ideological tests in order to keep working. But when you consider the vast number of jurisdictions that would be involved, and the fact that many of them are in blue states, the task is truly daunting. What can be done in one stroke at the federal level?

The easiest thing would be to enact some sort of vague internet regulation that permits a board appointed by a reactionary president to review and censor obnoxious left-wing speech on social media. The precedents for this exist in a variety of authoritarian countries overseas. At first glance, of course, this would violate the First Amendment, but with a reliably conservative judiciary, it might be possible to overcome the obvious legal problems. Shutting up the woke crowd on Twitter wouldn’t resolve the entire issue, but it would be a good place to start.

Or, of course, you could actually engage with these people and try to convert them, but that would be way too hard. The Orban Option is much easier and faster.