Several news outlets have announced they will no longer run the popular comic “Dilbert” after its creator, Scott Adams, made discriminatory comments reports The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Mel Stanfill, associate professor in the Texts and Technology Program at UCF, offers a reminder that freedom of speech does not guarantee freedom from repercussions. “This is a market decision that he is a brand liability,” said Stanfill, whose research examines cultural studies through the lens of media fans, social media and the law. “Freedom of speech is freedom of government suppression of your speech, but it’s not freedom to get paid to say whatever you want. No one has hauled him away in cuffs, some people just don’t want to buy his products.”