Welcome to the Glasshouse, where even Tim Minchin is afraid

But social justice seems to afford zero tolerance and little forgiveness. Some offending tweets and posts are years old, yet still considered toxic. If we accept that people change and learn over time, they may come to know that what was acceptable yesterday is no longer so today. Perhaps, then, they shouldn't be judged today on what they did yesterday. They shouldn't be written out of the history books. Should we erase the history of men such as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson because they owned slaves? Isn't it better to acknowledge that these past figures did many great things but also did what we now consider abhorrent?

Even in the movies we love, superheroes are given the chance to overcome major flaws in order to become better people (and perform heroic acts that save the world). If Marvel's Tony Stark hopped on his laptop today and started tweeting cavalierly about blowing people up with his weapons, while facetiously saluting peace, would he find himself cancelled and lose the chance to become moral and good? To rise like a phoenix from the ashes of his hedonistic lifestyle?

And we can tell that the non-movie-real-life situation has gotten worse, just by looking at the sort of people who are now declaring it a problem. Until now, talk of political correctness and freedom of speech has mostly come from so called far-right identities-think Canadian 12 Rules for Life psychologist Jordan Peterson, Alan Jones, maybe even Pauline Hanson. The woke folk on social media maintain that these 'extremists' are merely upset that they can't freely spew their specific variety of hate. But now, however, even the most liberal minded, socially aware personalities are expressing concern over the worryingly unforgiving mentality of the online justice system. Take Australian comedian/writer/composer Tim Minchin, for example. His recent song 15 Minutes (of shame) is on point. He's scared to say anything that might be taken the wrong way, he sings. We've weaponised humiliation, he laments. As soon as someone does something wrong, it's deemed unforgiveable. Grab your pitchfork and torch, he instructs, we'll turn on you if you stumble. Welcome to the glasshouse, hope you brought your stones. Minchin saying that he's too scared to write anything that might upset his own tribe shows that things have gone too far.

With this sort of warning, plus every responsible adult telling their children to be careful what they say online, it is clear that freedom of speech is under threat. For young people particularly, who live their lives online, the freedom to be themselves and not have to limit how or what they share within their peers is in jeopardy.

Is our zero tolerance, no forgiveness approach to online faux pas training the next generation to place political correctness and caution above individuality and experimentation? Perhaps we think it's okay as long as they are 'on the right side of history'. Protesting for climate change action or LGBTQ rights should be fine, you'd think. But as the years and decades roll on, today's causes can become tomorrow's shame. What if the tide turns and you end up on the wrong side of a cause? Or you are outed as having been too vocal, a trouble maker. There's no going back and erasing your involvement and you may end up paying with your career, your family, your (social) life. It might be easier if we just put the stones away.