(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College released a shocking study on American sentiment toward the right to free speech, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
The poll, titled the National Speech Index, consists of a 10 question survey with five permanent questions and five rotating questions, with the aim to capture American support for the First Amendment.
The changing questions ask participants about topical speech issues, such as censorship, and the right to protest—this particular survey asked about the recent protests on behalf of Hamas taking places on college campuses throughout the nation.
The Polarization Research Lab polled 1,000 American respondents and discovered that 69% of them believed people’s ability to express their views is heading in the wrong direction.
A slight majority of Republicans and 61% of Democrats agreed that the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.
“Evidently, one out of every two Americans wishes they had fewer civil liberties,” FIRE Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens said.
“Many of them reject the right to assemble, to have a free press, and to petition the government, Stevens added. “This is a dictator’s fantasy.”
People generally felt they were not personally at risk of facing repercussions, such as losing their job, if someone complained about something, the survey indicated.
Many did admit, however, to being skeptical about the government’s capability to identify speech as “threatening,” “intimidating,” “harassing” or “indecent.”
Respondents largely refused to take a side for or against the student protests in support of Gaza and Hamas, but 38% said often universities should condone the often violent and destructive protests.
Around 70% admitted to feeling uncomfortable with the idea of the government limiting the speech of those who chose to protest.
Stevens questioned the average American’s knowledge of the boundaries of the First Amendment, which does not cover vandalism, trespassing, squatting and several other crimes executed by the Hamas protesters.
“Americans have little tolerance for certain forms of protected speech and a lot of tolerance for unprotected conduct, when it should be the other way around,” Stevens concluded. “This poll reveals that the state of free speech in America is dire.”
