Unpopular opinion: I think canceling speakers makes them way more popular

At my school in Austin last semester, they tried to cancel a conservative commentator nobody knew. After the ban, 500 students showed up to a protest about free speech and now everyone knows her name. Wouldn't it be smarter to just let them speak and let people ignore them? Like, has anyone seen a speaker actually lose followers after getting disinvited?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron89625d ago

Pulled this stunt at our school too. A random state senator nobody wanted to hear got uninvited. Now he's got a standing ovation booked at the alumni center next month. The Streisand effect is real. You either let them talk to an empty room or you make them a martyr. Really feels like the people pushing these bans haven't thought it through.

noahjenkins25d agoMost Upvoted

You ever actually sit on a speaker selection committee? I have. Here's the trick - you give them the spot but schedule it at 8 AM on a Friday before a long weekend. Put them in the smallest room you've got that technically fits code. No marketing push, no posters, just the bare minimum notice on the school calendar. Let them talk to 12 people and a janitor who's mopping. They get their "free speech" moment and absolutely nothing comes of it. The martyr treatment only works if you make it look like you're scared of them.

the_dakota13d ago

My buddy was on the committee that tried the early morning thing with a local councilman. They booked him at 7:30 AM on a Tuesday after spring break in a room that held 40 people max. Only problem was his supporters found out and packed it out, even filmed the whole thing to post online saying "look how they tried to hide us." Ended up being way more attention than if they'd just given him the normal afternoon slot with zero drama. The quiet treatment works great until it doesn't, and the internet loves a good "they tried to silence us" story way more than they care about the actual speaker.