By Lauren Jessop (The Center Square)
(The Center Square) — Suppression of free speech on college campuses and censorship on social media often spark debate over how far the First Amendment should protect Americans’ right to express their opinions and who should be responsible for those decisions.
Some 53% of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in protecting rights, according to a new poll from the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
this pollingTaking place from July 5 to 10, it is the latest phase of the project national phonetic indexis a quarterly survey designed by FIRE and the Polarization Research Laboratory at Dartmouth College to gauge public views on free speech.
RELATED: Former Secret Service chief wants cocaine evidence destroyed
The 10-question survey includes five permanent questions that track support for free speech and the First Amendment over time; and five rotating questions that gather public opinion about trending and newsworthy opinions on issues related to speech.
“Clearly, one in two Americans wishes they had fewer civil liberties,” said Sean Stevens, FIRE’s chief research adviser. “Many of them deny the right of assembly, freedom of the press and the right to petition the government. This is a dictator’s fantasy.
Additionally, the report states that 69% of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track when it comes to freedom of expression. Only 5% believed their rights were “completely” secure, and 12% were “completely” insecure.
About 65% of respondents have some level of trust in the government to fairly decide what speech is considered threatening or indecent. However, only 32% said they were “completely dissatisfied” with the government’s restrictions on free speech for pro-Hamas protesters.
“Not only do many Americans want to take a stab at the First Amendment, but it’s unclear whether they understand its boundaries,” FIRE said. Press release. The report also noted that many respondents said this spring’s pro-Palestinian protests on campus should continue on free speech grounds.
The group noted that while many of the protests were “lawful,” some included “tent erection, vandalism, and building occupations” — activities that cannot be reasonably protected “in the name of free speech.”
“Americans have little tolerance for some forms of protected speech and a lot of tolerance for unprotected conduct, and the opposite is true,” Stevens said. “This poll shows that the U.S. The state of free speech is terrible.”
RELATED: New Vice President Harris faces criticism for handling of crime
Stevens told The Center Square, referring to previous surveys, that many Americans have little trust in government regulation of free speech, but at the same time, other data suggests many are prepared to censor views they don’t like. He said they want someone to do it but don’t trust the government or social media companies to do it fairly.
Stevens highlighted an encouraging result: There appears to be a rare bipartisan consensus among Democrats and Republicans (61% and 52%, respectively) on their views on government regulation of pro-Hamas protesters. Feel unsatisfied.
“I know what was said may have offended a lot of people,” he said. “But it’s a strong free speech position.”
Yet half of Democrats and just one-fifth of Republicans believe the United States is generally on the right track when it comes to free speech.
Other investigative efforts have focused on encampment protests and how campus administration responded to them. Stevens said the results showed increased concerns among liberals, progressives and leftists about the state of free speech compared with six months ago.
“Now that people are more aware that their cattle are being gored, they see how easily calls for censorship can be directed against them,” he said.
Other survey results showed that the share of respondents who were “very” or “somewhat” worried about being fired over speech complaints fell to 20% in July from 28% in April. They noted that the survey came after former President Trump was fired. before the assassination.
The number of people who frequently self-censor “a fair amount” or “a lot” also dropped from 27% to 23%.
Co-organized with permission from Center Square.
