Social justice infractions are easier to prosecute in a digital media environment, where everyone’s offhand statements from a decade or two ago are indelibly recorded and retrievable for later inspection. But the perfect memory of these platforms also makes it harder for people to endorse progress—especially if new rules may recast once “acceptable” behavior in a new light. Doing the right thing or using appropriate language with regard to race, gender, or sexuality today could very easily be considered wrong tomorrow. That’s the nature of progress, yet it’s incompatible in a world where
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