Americans think the First Amendment protects their speech. It doesn’t — at least not at work for most of us. Just ask the executives, teachers, lawyers and even a Secret Service agent disciplined after posting about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. A single Facebook update or tweet — whether mocking, angry or careless — can now end a career overnight.
The line between our personal and professional lives has collapsed. Strangers online don’t just argue over posts they find offensive; they forward them to employers with a single demand: fire this person. What began as a left-leaning push to oust employees for racist or sexist remarks has become a bipartisan weapon. Conservatives, once critics of “cancel culture,” now deploy the same tactics. In many ways, the rooster has come home to roost: outrage, once one-way, is now a two-lane highway.
This isn’t new. In 2013, public relations executive Justine Sacco made a crude AIDS joke on Twitter before boarding a flight. By the time she landed, she had lost her job and become a global pariah. In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin was dropped by CNN after posing with a mock severed head of Donald Trump. Even corporate titans aren’t immune: CrossFit founder Greg Glassman was forced out in 2020 after dismissive tweets about George Floyd and COVID-19. Ordinary workers face the same risks with fewer safety nets. A Texas nurse was fired after posting in an anti-vaxxer group about a measles patient — even though she...
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