I'm not sure about that. I'd always heard about it in the context of "deplatforming" people by actively getting them kicked off whatever social media or getting

I'm not sure about that. I'd always heard about it in the context of "deplatforming" people by actively getting them kicked off whatever social media or getting them fired from a job where they can influence society. Maybe that is where the word "cancel" originally comes from for all I know.