People in Fahrenheit 451 don’t want books banned because they cause offense to others. They want books banned because they feel threatened when someone else knows more than they do. Bradbury describes the process as a growing divide between those who take the time to read a book and those who do not. The non-readers, not wanting to be left out, seek out synopses and summaries to be “in the know”. Eventually, the shortened versions take over, and then even they have their own summaries for people who find the abridged versions too time-consuming.

In the world of the novel, the people who are too caught up in the increasing pace of life to enjoy media “properly” are so threatened by those who read that they seek to ban books entirely. He is criticizing not “cancel culture” or “political correctness gone mad”, but nearly the exact opposite. Of course, in doing so, he merely repeats the same tired complaints about young people moving too quickly as generations of people have done for literal centuries.