A key factor in American rights that are enshrined in our constitution is that of Freedom of Speech. However, the balance of protecting that right and addressing it’s harms is a highly debated issue in the United States. A new survey by YouGov (following up one conducted in 2022) found that most Americans agree with certain parts related to free speech: free speech involves dealing with people who disagree with you (88% agree), society should discourage people from expressing views that encourage violence (81%), it is not always a bad thing when people avoid expressing views publicly that may offend others (70%), and that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences of that speech (78%).
The other perspectives are much more divisive. More disagree (46%) than agree (25%) that limiting the speech of a small number expands the freedom of speech overall. Nearly equal numbers (34% disagree vs 38% agree that the intent of the person speaking is what matters not how it is understood. American are more likely to agree that that social media companies are less of a threat to free speech (40% say it is) than the government is (54%).
55% say that societal norms of acceptable speech are changing too quickly to keep up with. 52% say they worry that the views they express will be misinterpreted in a negative way.
89% of Democrats and 88% of republicans agree that part of exercising the first amendment is dealing with people who disagree with you, but the members of the parties differ on other issues. More republicans than democrats (69% vs 48%) say free speech has become limited in their lives. Democrats are more likely than republicans however to agree that it should be discouraged to advocate for removing the civil rights of others (75% vs 45%).
The share of Americans who say that people who test the limits of free speech (by sharing controversial views) make a contribution to society has fallen 8 points since 2022, 18 points among republicans alone. Republicans are more likely now since 2022, to say free speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.
Americans agree that the biggest threat to free speech is the government, an increase of 9 points and 19 points among democrats, however there is an 8 point decline among republicans. Democrats who say that what is considered acceptable speech is changing too fast has increase by 11% while declining by 7% among republicans.