Jessica Rowe bows to criticism in ‘cancel culture’ era by deleting her podcast with Pauline Hanson

The failure to take a stance and stick to it is the undoing of those using social media, a media expert says.

The fear of “cancel culture” is prompting high-profile personalities to cave in to demands by online mobs for self-censorship, a leading media academic has warned.

Journalist and former TV presenter Jessica Rowe and Australian singer Guy Sebastian have recently been subjected to barrages of online criticism after posting content that upset a small minority of social media users – and both subsequently removed their posts and issued apologies to their tens of thousands of followers.

Last week Rowe, 51, succumbed to pressure to delete a podcast on her show, The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, during which she interviewed Senator Pauline Hanson about her life outside of politics.

In promoting the episode of the podcast, Rowe said the controversial Queensland politician would discuss “love, raising kids and why she keeps going”.

But just hours after the release of the podcast, Rowe was besieged with criticism – most notably from Australian of the Year Grace Tame, actor/comedian Nakkiah Lui and former race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane – for giving “a voice” to the parliamentarian.

Weeks earlier singer and The Voice judge Guy Sebastian, 39, also deleted a pro-vaccine Twitter post after he was attacked for the ostensibly innocuous decision to take a stance on the issue.

Sebastian later distanced himself from his online post, and ­issued an apology.

Macquarie University senior research associate in media and cultural studies Anthony Lambert said “cancel culture” was forcing high-profile figures in the media to “self-edit” themselves in the face of online criticism, because it was a less damaging path than sticking to their original stance on certain issues.

“Jessica Rowe and Guy Sebastian are now at this new point where they have to self-edit,” he said.

“It’s a guessing game as to what the fallout will be from the different things that they are associated with.

“In both cases, it is the dark side of this ‘cancel culture’ idea, where public figures are actually too frightened to either stand by their own position or to take a position, so we’ve got to a point of self-editing – which I don’t know is necessarily helpful.”

It is understood Rowe was going to release a subsequent podcast discussing her reasons for ­deleting the Hanson episode, but this did not go ahead.

Rowe has 51,900 followers on Twitter, and Ms Tame has 73,100 followers.

Ms Tame commented on Twitter on Rowe’s promotional post for the Hanson episode, and linked to the podcast. “This is how discrimination and hate is subtly enabled and normalised,” Tame wrote.

“Everyone’s entitled to their own views, but not all views should be valorised by promoting their source.

“Pauline doesn’t need to be heard, but those whose oppression she’s both driven and reinforced do.”

Nine journalist Chris Uhlmann last week also weighed in on the issue, tweeting about the Rowe fallout and her decision to remove her promotional post and the podcast itself.

“Another violent attack on a ­female journalist by grandstanding ‘progressives’ who lack the wit or curiosity to try and understand a different world view,” he said. “That is what journalism should be and why Jessica Rowe can be proud of her work.”

Uhlmann, too, received ­intense online criticism with his tweet attracting 1400 comments, more than 370 retweets and 500 likes.

Dr Lambert said there was often a power imbalance in cancel culture battles – and whoever had the bigger online following invariably held the upper hand.

“Who has the bigger voice, who has the louder voice … they’re the ones that get their way, if you will,” he said.

Rowe was contacted for comment but did not respond.