John Oliver is (almost) right about Jay Leno and the shouty liberal Twitterati

There is a danger in saying how you think things ought to be done, given how often past utterances to the contrary seem to return for a spot of haunting.

The internet has exacerbated this, especially the rise of social media. Even if we don’t remember what we thought five years ago, Twitter will.

You might have thought Jay Leno would have known better, though, given that he is a massive US TV star rather than a media nobody.

So when he said he was relieved to be out of the late-night chat show game, and bemoaned the lack of civility that presenters are faced with over their political views, it was no surprise he came under fire.

John Oliver, probably the most famous British TV star in America and host of Last Week Tonight, pointed out how Leno had frequently made fun of Monica Lewinsky over her relationship with Bill Clinton. “If that’s what he means by civility,” said Oliver, “may I offer my new book: Oh the Places You Can Go F*** Yourself, Jay Leno!”

Oliver then turned to Tucker Carlson, the Fox News anchor who has been hit by a social media backlash for comments made on a radio show. The argument went that the online uproar had “increased accountability”.

That last point is a matter of debate. There are plenty of TV show hosts and radio shock jocks (not to mention populist political figures) who thrive on provoking an outcry among the liberal-leaning Twitterati. In this country, Piers Morgan is frequently “held to account” but doesn’t appear minded to change his occasionally controversial opinions as a consequence. There are plenty of others in the same category.

In fact, given the way a social media furore can boost an individual’s profile, there can plainly be an incentive to whipping up the crowd. And with political and cultural opinion now so polarised online, all but the most out-there comments by a high-profile politician or media star are likely to find as many backers as critics. People have become used to playing to their base, which makes the overall risk to them minimal.

Oliver is surely right that if a public figure wears their political opinions on their sleeve, they cannot reasonably expect that nobody will say anything in response. It might be nice if the internet were a moderately more charming place than it often is, but if you have any sort of publicly-projected persona, getting shouted at on Twitter or Facebook is de rigeur. Really, you just have to suck it up.

What’s more, while civility is an underrated quality, it’s not the be-all and end-all.

After all, there are plenty of nicely mannered people who espouse views that you or I might find appalling. Should their “civility” mean they get a pat on the back while we shun the raging, sweary tweeter disgusted at genuine unfairness in the world?

Well, actually, that is precisely the narrative that some with conservative or regressive opinions like to perpetuate. It is this notion that Leno was perhaps playing in support of: that courteousness is an intrinsic marker of good sense, whereas yelling on social media must indicate dim-wittedness.

This ignores the power imbalance between those like Leno, who have a mainstream platform on which to make their point, and the masses who are struggling to get a hearing on packed digital platforms.

It is the same underlying idea which has been used for centuries to paint oppressed people as a danger to society: that if a cause is expressed by anger it must be wrong and a threat to the status quo.

So yes, Jay Leno, let’s hear it for civility – but not at the expense of allowing the righteous rude to be heard.