Why We’re Saying Less, Even When We Think More

I am fortunate to be given a lot of freedom in what I can choose to write about for this magazine, or what I can talk about on my radio show. But it does not take a genius to understand that there are certain topics you should just avoid! And, sadly, that list is growing.

Apart from the traditional wisdom that one should never talk about money, politics or religion, there are numerous other topics that have lately become so divisive that they are just not worth raising, for example Donald Trump, Elon Musk, trans athletes, or Israel vs Palestine. If I were to write about any of these, it would not matter which position I took for a large number of people to be upset or offended. As a result, more and more of us (not just columnists and radio DJs but you, and probably the person sitting next to you too) have learnt to practice self-censorship.

We increasingly decide that, while we may have an opinion on something, it is not worth expressing it, be it in a column such as this one, on social media, or even at a braai with friends or at the dinner table with your parents. After all, opinions can have realworld implications these days. Former England football player-turned-commentator Gary Lineker was forced to step down as the long-running host of the Match of the Day show on BBC, in large part due to opinions he expressed about the situation in Gaza – opinions he did not even express on the show itself, but on his private X (formerly Twitter) account. ABC News veteran Terry Moran, who famously interviewed US President Donald Trump in April when the two clashed over tariffs, deportations and a clearly doctored photograph, was suspended for labelling Trump and White House aide, Stephen Miller, “world-class haters” (the wisdom of which is definitely questionable, but the US does after all pride itself on the First Amendment – a fact that was driven home to me in great detail during the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship I undertook in the country. And then, of course, there was the furore that surrounded Disney’s liveaction adaptation of Snow White which, according to many, was doomed to failure by the political views and social media posts of lead actress Rachel Zegler.

When we don’t have access to the information that others hold –because they’re censoring themselves and not sharing it – we all lose out on naming problems and finding better-quality solutions.

The bitter irony is that, while social media is often seen as a tool to allow for greater expression, researchers have found that it is actually one of the main factors leading to an increase in self-censorship. Jonathan Day, writing for The Civil Liberties Union for Europe, explains that “researchers have found that social media helps grow a phenomenon known as the ‘spiral of silence’ – when individuals suppress their own views if they think they differ from those of family, friends or colleagues”. Or, as Matthew Legge writes in his popular blog for Psychology Today, people worry that if they “say the wrong thing, [they run the] risk [of] identifying [themselves] as part of an ‘enemy’ camp on any issue in the news”.

Admittedly, there may not be any real harm in me choosing not to write about a certain topic in this magazine when I feel that it is not something you would necessarily want to read about while enjoying your flight. Nor is any damage done when I decide to avoid a certain topic on the radio because, even though I may find it interesting, I know that many people on their way to work are not tuning in for that kind of discussion. However, there is an underlying danger when people increasingly selfcensor their thoughts and expressions. As Matthew Legge explains: “When we don’t have access to the information that others hold – because they’re censoring themselves and not sharing it – we all lose out on naming problems and finding betterquality solutions.”

While I do not have a solution to offer (nor could I find one in any of the many journals, magazines and opinion pieces I drew on when writing this column), we clearly need one because – to end on a dramatic note – as Daniel Bar-Tal says in the journal Advances in Political Psychology: “Selfcensorship has the potential of being a plague that not only prevents building a better world, but also robs its performer of courage and integrity.”

Until next time, enjoy your journey (and try to self-censor yourself a little less).

David Bishop