Generally, lack of consequence results in people behaving less responsibly, but ... > baseless grandstanding is incentivised by an audience ... the dynamic yo

Generally, lack of consequence results in people behaving less responsibly, but ... > baseless grandstanding is incentivised by an audience ... the dynamic you cite has been far more influential in humanity's new social medium, social media. Arguably, though, that is due to a lack of consequence for their actions. Zuckerberg says these things and there are no serious conequences (possibly; we'll see). When there are conequences, it does stop people - look at the effectiveness of the anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQ mobs in silencing people and organizations.