Commentary and opinion by Mykhailo Zborovsky, Beneficiary of the Ukrainian Gaming Platform Cosmobet.

Have you ever considered that cancelling might not be a fight for justice, but rather a new form of intolerance? What if the hate, served under the guise of morality, actually fuels more hatred and deepens societal polarisation? Instead of dialogue — public destruction.

Instead of reflection — fear of saying too much. As a result, we begin to hate what we should have calmly accepted.

This pressure doesn’t heal — it inflames. A clear example of this is woke culture. It started strong: equality, respect, opposition to discrimination. But over time, it turned into fear. Boycotts, scandals, pressure.

This is exactly the current reality of the gambling industry in Ukraine. And paradoxically, its marginalisation mirrors the path of woke culture.

Only in our case, it’s not Western activism, but an old Soviet habit: don’t understand it — ban it. Afraid of it — destroy it. Ignore everything that doesn’t fit into a convenient image.

Why it’s worth talking about woke culture — even if it feels like “It’s Not About Us”

Woke culture began as a powerful movement for justice, equality, and visibility. It redefined moral standards in media, politics, and corporate environments. It was an attempt to make the world more sensitive and humane — and in its early days, the idea was truly inspiring.

But over time, something went wrong. Gradually, the culture that was meant to liberate began to impose rigid boundaries. Increasingly, it didn’t give people a voice — it dictated what and how they were allowed to say. Instead of organic evolution, we got control over language, thought, and context. The idea stopped expanding the space — and started narrowing it.

Take the US, where journalists were fired for old tweets. Imagine that. In the UK, careers were ruined over a single wrong word in an interview. A striking example: a BBC host was fired after comparing a royal baby to a monkey. In Hollywood, actors lost roles over old comments that didn’t align with modern ethical standards. Comedian Kevin Hart even stepped down from hosting the Oscars after the public resurfaced his past homophobic remarks.

In 2023, even J.K. Rowling — the author of a beloved book series that shaped an entire generation — was publicly “cancelled” by part of her fanbase over her views on gender identity. This case became a symbol of the era, when society began to demand that people be hired not only for their hard or soft skills but first and foremost based on principles of inclusivity and diversity.

That’s when the movement began to lose trust. Even those who sincerely supported it started to go silent — not because their values had changed, but because they felt their freedom was gone. When empathy becomes a tool of pressure, even the brightest idea turns into a source of exhaustion — and starts to collapse from within.

This unnatural evolution of woke culture led to harmful consequences of excessive tolerance. In trying to include every possible identity, society began punishing those who thought differently or spoke outside the new moral canon. Public figures were fired, “canceled,” and reputationally destroyed for words taken out of context or for opinions that just yesterday were considered acceptable. In fact, one of the key factors behind Trump’s victory was the public’s fatigue with cancel culture — ordinary people no longer wanted to live in fear of saying the “wrong” thing.

A similar scenario in gambling

When any issue becomes overly dramatised, it ultimately leads to collapse from all sides. First, those who disagree are canceled. Then, the culture itself is canceled. The result is overwhelming negativity and fatigue. It’s aggressive canceling that sets this mechanism in motion.

A similar process is unfolding today in Ukraine’s gambling industry. This sector was legalised in 2020 and, in theory, should have developed steadily under market rules. Instead, it is being cancelled.

Despite its real economic potential, billions in state revenue, and job creation, the industry is under pressure — both from society and the government. And the scale is staggering: everything even remotely connected to gambling is being cancelled. People working in the industry. Partners who collaborate with it. The market itself as a legitimate business sector. 

It’s absurd — this is a legal industry, entitled to the same rights as any other business. Logically, it should be supported, allowed to grow organically, and helped to rebuild its reputation. Instead, there are populist statements and reputational attacks.

This is a textbook case of moral canceling. Not based on facts — but on prejudice, convenient enemy images, and political rhetoric. A legal business is being stripped of its tools, users retreat to the shadows, where there is no regulation or protection. This creates the illusion of fighting the problem, when in reality it only worsens it — the shadow market grows, and the state loses both control and revenue.

History repeats itself: just like with woke culture, a good idea (in this case — a regulated market) loses public trust not because of its own flaws, but because it becomes a convenient target. The mechanism is the same: first comes approval, then the twisting of meanings, and finally — a reputational assault that solves nothing but creates the illusion of action.

In the public space, there are no arguments left — only slogans. Society doesn’t discuss regulation models or seek balance — it consumes simplified stories of “good” and “bad,” tailor-made for media campaigns. Meanwhile, complex but effective solutions are pushed out of the discourse.

Canceling іsn’t about justice — it’s a convenient tool for those unwilling to go deeper

On the surface, cancelling appears noble — a fight for ethics. But in reality, it’s an oversimplification taken to the extreme, leaving no room for understanding or facts. It’s a way to eliminate those who don’t fit someone’s personal worldview — often not for their actions, but for their words; not for their intentions, but for their tone.

The mechanism always works the same way — just like with woke culture:

• statements are taken out of context and weaponized;
• fragments of truth are distorted until they seem like a “threat”;
• no verified facts, just pure populism;
• complex issues are replaced with slogans and clichés.

All of it is wrapped in appealing packaging. But in fact — everyone is treated the same, indiscriminately and irrationally.

The real danger lies in the fact that when everything is reduced to “good vs. evil,” trust erodes — trust in the system, in decisions, and in the very concept of discussion. When the lines between those who are accountable and those who are simply inconvenient are blurred, the whole system loses its credibility.

Cancellation works quickly. But the price of this is chaos and the destruction of trust. Today is one thing, tomorrow is another. There is always someone wrong and superfluous.

And a society where everyone stays silent because they don’t know who’s next — that’s not progress. That’s a silence disguised as ethics. But in reality — it’s the loss of a voice.

Bans do not save — they cripple

New cultural movements and markets, like an ecosystem: they need light, oxygen and time. They are born not from restrictions, but from working with reality. Through dialogue, regulation, integration, responsibility – not prohibitions and moral blackmail.

Personal beliefs, prejudices or moral assessments cannot determine state policy. Because as soon as the state starts to act from emotions, not from norms – this is not regulation, this is censorship. And it is in such an environment that clarity disappears: where the law ends and someone’s “dislike” begins.

Today, gambling in Ukraine is not about slot machines. It is about whether the state is able to work with legal business as a partner, not a convenient enemy. About whether society can withstand a complex topic and build rules around it, not negative patterns. Because even if a transparent, licensed industry becomes the object of attack, it is not a gambling problem. It is a diagnosis of a system that is used for erasing instead of integrating.

After all, it is important to remember that any endeavors that are stifled at the start do not disappear. They simply adapt – and learn to exist outside the system. Without the state. Without rules. In their own underground.

That is why pressure on legal businesses is not about fighting the problem, but rather about multiplying it. Ignoring those who work transparently creates a vacuum that instantly fills the shadow. Because if the rules do not protect, they are no longer believed in. And where the state does not conduct a dialogue, a gray area is always born. In that zone, no one plays honestly, because no one is responsible for it.

Last but not least, in my opinion

A public demand is not a whim, but a signal for change that requires orderly development. And it doesn’t matter if it’s about diversity, inclusion, patriotism or the creation of new markets that were taboo yesterday — these processes should have a living, natural dynamic, and not be the result of forced proceedings.

When support is reasonable and regulation is balanced, development goes through trust, not resistance. There is no need to impose ideas — we need to create conditions in which they can grow organically. Because this is the only way to achieve balance: when the state, business, and the public play on the same team. With facts, not emotions. And with a long-term vision, not a reaction to trends.

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