JK Rowling, Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood sign letter against ‘cancel culture’ | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
June 17, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2025
JK Rowling, Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood sign letter against ‘cancel culture’

Glitz

TBS Report
08 July, 2020, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2020, 04:43 pm

Related News

  • Salman Rushdie attacker sentenced to 25 years in prison
  • Man who stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie guilty of attempted murder
  • Novelist Rushdie takes stand in trial of his accused stabber
  • Attempted murder trial of Rushdie assailant to begin
  • Legal loophole ends India ban on Salman Rushdie book

JK Rowling, Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood sign letter against ‘cancel culture’

The letter states, “The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted."

TBS Report
08 July, 2020, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2020, 04:43 pm
JK Rowling, Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood sign letter against ‘cancel culture’

150 public figures have decided to speak out against the prevalent cancel culture. The letter signatories are influential figure in various fields.

Other signatories of the letter include famous authors, public intellectuals and journalists. In terms of authors, we can see Jeffrey Eugenides and Martin Amis signing the letter. Noam Chomsky and Malcolm Gladwell have also signed the letter. Feminist journalist Gloria Steinem and chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov also signed the letter according to reports by The Guardian. 

The letter was published this Tuesday, in Harper's Magazine. The letter states, "The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty. We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters. But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought." 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The letter went on as it argued the signatories' stands.

"Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal," the letter argues. "We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement."

The letter concluded, saying, "We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we won't defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn't expect the public or the state to defend it for us."

 

 

JK Rowling / Chomsky / Salman Rushdie / Margaret Atwood / cancel culture

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique speaks at a press conference, on the security of Bangladeshi expatriates in Iran, on Tuesday, 7 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    Around 400 Bangladeshis under serious threat in Tehran, relocation starts: MoFA
  • Israel continued to strike Iran's capital Tehran on Sunday night. Photos: Collected
    21 Arab, Muslim nations condemn Israeli airstrikes on Iran, urge immediate de-escalation
  • BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed speaks at a press briefing, held right before the lunch break during the second phase of dialogue between the National Consensus Commission and political parties on Tuesday, 17 June 2025. Screengrab from video
    Consensus reached over raising women seats in parliament to 100, amending Article 70 of Constitution: BNP

MOST VIEWED

  • Former Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem. Photo: Collected
    ACC launches inquiry against ex-Bangladesh envoy Saida Muna, husband over laundering Tk2,000cr
  • Infograph: TBS
    Ship congestion at Ctg port lingers as berthing time rises
  • BNP leader Ishraque Hossain held a view-exchange meeting with waste management officials and Dhaka South City Corporation staff inside Nagar Bhaban on 16 June 2025. Photos: Hasan Mehedi
    Ishraque holds Nagar Bhaban meeting as 'Dhaka South mayor', says it’s people’s demand
  • Power Division wants Tk56,000cr PDB loans turned into subsidy
    Power Division wants Tk56,000cr PDB loans turned into subsidy
  • Bangladesh to open new missions in five countries to boost trade, diplomacy
    Bangladesh to open new missions in five countries to boost trade, diplomacy
  • Screengrab from the viral video showing a man claiming to be a journalist conducting a room-to-room search at a guesthouse in Chattogram
    Viral video of guesthouse raid by 'journalist' in Ctg sparks outrage, legal questions

Related News

  • Salman Rushdie attacker sentenced to 25 years in prison
  • Man who stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie guilty of attempted murder
  • Novelist Rushdie takes stand in trial of his accused stabber
  • Attempted murder trial of Rushdie assailant to begin
  • Legal loophole ends India ban on Salman Rushdie book

Features

The GLS600 overall has a curvaceous nature, with seamless blends across every panel. PHOTO: Arfin Kazi

Mercedes Maybach GLS600: Definitive Luxury

1d | Wheels
Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

1d | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

4d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

5d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

G7 Backs Israel, Labels Iran a Source of Terrorism

G7 Backs Israel, Labels Iran a Source of Terrorism

38m | TBS Stories
The worries of Iranians regarding security and survival

The worries of Iranians regarding security and survival

1h | TBS World
Why Did Delhi Not Condemn Israel’s Strikes on Iran?

Why Did Delhi Not Condemn Israel’s Strikes on Iran?

2h | TBS World
Khamenei's death key to ending hostilities: Netanyahu

Khamenei's death key to ending hostilities: Netanyahu

3h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net