WHAT JORDAN PETERSON CAN TELL US ABOUT CENSORSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
In November of 2020, several employees at Penguin Random House (PRH) Canada unsuccessfully called for the cancellation of Jordan Peterson’s upcoming sequel, Beyond Order:12 More Rules For Life. Their protests were not triggered by the content within the book, which in traditional censorship is the only parameter examined, but by Peterson’s political views, which they considered to be bigoted. Similar instances of this new approach to censorship are becoming more prevalent within the publishing industry, and its implications may soon cast doubt over the trustworthiness of publishing houses, and even the stability of our freedom of expression.
Peterson’s debut self-help book, 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos, was extremely critically and commercially successful. It sold over five million copies worldwide (Krishnan 2020) and helped thousands of readers with problems like addiction, toxic relationships and poor mental health. In fact, a popular Reddit thread was created called ‘Jordan Peterson saved my life’ (Reddit 2019) where users discuss the major, positive difference his advice has had on them.
Contrary to his authorial ability, Peterson’s personal character hasn’t always been held in high public regard. In 2020, The Guardian listed some of the viewpoints which ultimately prompted the Penguin Random House employees to protest against him, including that he once suggested ‘gay marriage might be a plot by cultural Marxists’ and that ‘women wearing makeup in the workplace is “sexually provocative” (Robinson).
At the time of the controversy, one junior employee at PRH said: ‘He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and…white supremacy, regardless of the content of his book, I’m not proud to work for a company that publishes him’ (Flood 2020).
For this employee to promote the censorship of the book solely based on Peterson’s viewpoints, and not on the contents of the actual book, is to disregard the legal justifications for which censorship is traditionally held. Some of those justifications being: ‘The interests of national security,…, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others’ (Bychawska-Siniarska 2017).
In this instance, PRH adhered to the restrictions of censorship and didn’t submit to the demands of its employees. But the increasing prevalence of similar events means that a different outcome could be on the horizon. If publishing houses were to start behaving oppositely, then under the guise of acting in the public’s interests or respecting the wishes of its employees, houses could make decisions which only serve them — like protecting their reputations. And because these decisions are generally made pre-publication, consumers would be unable to ascertain whether the rulings were made honourably.
At the moment, the British public rely on publishers and other authoritative bodies to make the distinction between author and idea correctly — but the events surrounding Jordan Peterson suggest that this may soon be impossible. It is therefore our responsibility as readers to critically evaluate each decision made by publishers going forward, to ensure that they do not misapply their power, and our own freedom of expression does not diminish as a result.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bychawska-Siniarska, D., (2017). Protecting the Right to Freedom of Expression under the European Convention on Human Rights: A handbook for legal practitioners. Council of Europe. (p. 7).
Krishnan, M., (2020). Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book. Vice [online]. [Viewed 8 February 2021]. Available from https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5bv3x/penguin-random-house-staff-confront-publisher-about-new-jordan-peterson-book
Reddit, (2019). Jordan Peterson Saved My Life. Reddit [online]. [Viewed 8 February 2021]. Available from https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=jordan%20peterson%20saved%20my%20life
Robinson, N., (2020). Publishers are not obliged to give bigots like Jordan Peterson a platform. The Guardian [online]. [Viewed 9 February 2021]. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/02/jordan-peterson-opinions-publishers-book-contract
Flood, A., (2020). Staff at Jordan Peterson’s publisher protest new book plans. The Guardian [online]. [Viewed 8 February 2021]. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/25/staff-at-jordan-petersons-publisher-protest-new-book-plans
