Online abuse in the art world is out of control. Artists turning on artists. Curators taking potshots. Collectors moralising. Everyone’s got an opinion. And no one’s got accountability.
A whisper becomes a storm. A DM becomes a call-out. A disagreement becomes character assassination. Social media has become the new courtroom, and everyone’s playing judge, jury, and executioner—without evidence, without consequence.
The same people who cry about cancel culture are the first to pile on when it suits their narrative. It’s ugly. And it’s hypocritical. People who have never stepped into a studio, never lifted a hammer, never hung a show—spouting off like experts on someone else’s life and work.
Here’s the truth: online abuse is abuse. Period. Whether you’re the one starting it or fuelling it. And if you’re hiding behind “I was just sharing” or “raising awareness,” save it. You’re complicit.
It’s time this behaviour had consequences. Real ones. We can’t keep pretending this is discourse. It’s digital bloodsport. And the art world—already fragile, already broken—can’t afford any more of it