The “cancel culture” era of the 2020s should’ve already taught us this lesson, but if any doubt remained about the need for due process and even-mindedness when litigating accusations of wrongdoing, the social media meltdown over the Cornell rape case should answer the question once and for all.
Ever since the news broke of an anonymous former Cornell student suing and accusing seven young men of sexual misconduct, online discourse has jumped the gun. Instantly, videos went viral on TikTok, spreading outright misinformation about the case, such as the untrue suggestion, now widely believed as fact, that the young men only had to “write essays” as their punishment for their alleged sexual assault. (In reality, two students were expelled, others were suspended, and the entire fraternity was shut down.)
