TERMINALE LV1 · UPPER SECONDARY · B2 to C1 · C1/C2 extension track in every session

Session 6: Witch hunts today: rumour and public shaming

Part 6. Are social media pile-ons a modern witch hunt?

Objectives

Warm-up

Students react to the phrase "trial by social media". What is the court? Who are the judges? Is there a defence?

Class rule: we talk about public figures, fictional characters and documented cases only. Nobody shares a personal story, a name or a screenshot about themselves or anyone they know.

Documents

Document 6: the pile-on. A pile-on happens when thousands of people attack one person online at the same time, often after one post or one video taken out of context. Screenshots spread faster than corrections. Some people lose their job or leave social media, even when the accusation is later proved false. Others say public criticism holds powerful people to account.
Document 7: how to stop a rumour. Check the source. Look for the full context. Do not share, do not comment, do not add a laugh. Report harassment. Support the target in private. In France, cyberharassment is a criminal offence, and students can call 3018, the national number against online harassment.

Activities

  1. Compare: Salem's spectral evidence and a screenshot without context. What is similar? What is different?
  2. Vocabulary: pile-on, call-out, cancel, viral, screenshot, out of context, bystander, harassment.
  3. Debate in two teams: "Social media pile-ons are the witch hunts of today." Each team prepares three arguments with examples from the play and from history.
  4. Speech and op-ed techniques: a hook, a rhetorical question, a concession (admittedly...), a call to action.

Sentence starters

Role play

Pairs: two friends discover that a fictional celebrity, Alex Moore, is being attacked online for an old video. One wants to share it; the other explains why to wait and check.

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: pile-on, viral, context, bystander, harassment, screenshot, accountable, report
  1. A ______ is when many people attack one person online.
  2. A video that spreads very fast goes ______.
  3. A ______ can be cut and taken out of context.
  4. Always look for the full ______.
  5. A ______ sees the attack and does nothing.
  6. Online ______ is a criminal offence in France.
  7. You can ______ a harmful post.
  8. Criticism can hold powerful people ______.
Answer key
  1. pile-on
  2. viral
  3. screenshot
  4. context
  5. bystander
  6. harassment
  7. report
  8. accountable

Homework

Choose your final task and write its plan: hook, three arguments, a concession, a conclusion.

Watch the film at home

The Crucible (1996), directed by Nicholas Hytner. In France, the film is called La Chasse aux sorcières.

  1. Where to watch: see the list of streaming and rental options on JustWatch France.
  2. DVD: ask at your local library or médiathèque.
  3. Official trailer: on the Apple TV page of the film.
  4. Scenes to watch: Act I: the girls dance in the forest at night (the opening of the film). Act II: the officers arrest Elizabeth at home. Act III: in court, the girls turn against Mary Warren. Act IV: Proctor tears his confession and walks to the gallows.

Watch with English subtitles if you can.

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
ArgumentsNoneOneThree clearThree clear with examples
NuanceOne sidedSome nuanceConcession usedBalanced and convincing
InteractionRarely reactsReacts simplyReacts and arguesReacts, argues and rephrases
Respect of the class ruleNot respectedPartlyRespectedRespected and helpful to others

Terminale LV1 · C1/C2 extension track

For strong or anglophone students. Witch hunts today: argued civic reflection (no real person is named).

Extended extract

Protection, therefore, against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough: there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859 (public domain)

Critical analysis

  1. What is the 'tyranny of the prevailing opinion'?
  2. How does it apply to online pile ons?
  3. Where is the line between accountability and shaming?

Nuanced vocabulary

Word or phraseMeaning and use
pile ona mass attack on one person online
accountabilitybeing answerable for one's acts
public shaminghumiliation as punishment
arguablyto present a view as defensible but open to debate
to hinge onto depend entirely on

Argued writing (C1: 300 words · C2: 400 words)

Op ed (C1 300 words, C2 400 words): 'Social media has revived the witch hunt.' Agree or disagree.

Debate

Formal debate with Mill's quotation as the motion.

Links reminder