Our rights as Americans are under attack. And you’ll never expect where it’s coming from.
And now a terrifying attack on the First Amendment could change America forever.
Debates over the boundaries of the First Amendment are intensifying as concerns grow about free speech suppression on college campuses and social media censorship.
Who should be entrusted with deciding what constitutes acceptable expression? This question has become more pressing as the First Amendment faces increasing scrutiny.
According to a new poll by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), 53% of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in protecting free speech.
The poll, conducted between July 5-10, is part of FIRE’s National Speech Index, a quarterly survey created with the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College to assess public opinion on freedom of speech.
The 10-question survey tracks support for free speech and the First Amendment over time while also capturing public opinion on current and controversial speech-related issues.
“Evidently, one out of every two Americans wishes they had fewer civil liberties,” said Sean Stevens, FIRE’s Chief Research Advisor.
“Many of them reject the right to assemble, to have a free press, and to petition the government. This is a dictator’s fantasy.”
The survey further revealed that 69% of respondents believe the country is heading in the wrong direction regarding free speech.
Only 5% feel their rights are “completely” secure, while 12% believe they are “not at all” secure.
While 65% of respondents expressed some level of trust in the government to decide fairly on what speech is considered threatening or indecent, only 32% were “not at all” comfortable with the government limiting the free speech of pro-Hamas protesters.
“Not only do many Americans want to take a machete to the First Amendment, but it’s unclear whether they understand its bounds,” FIRE noted in its press release.
A plurality of respondents believed that this spring’s campus pro-Palestinian protests should have been allowed to continue on free speech grounds, despite some protests involving unlawful activities such as vandalism and occupation of buildings.
“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 added. “This poll reveals that the state of free speech in America is dire.”
Despite these concerning trends, Stevens pointed to one encouraging finding: a rare bipartisan agreement between Democrats and Republicans—61% and 52%, respectively—showed discomfort with the government regulating the speech of pro-Hamas protesters.
“I know what’s being said probably offends a lot of people,” Stevens noted, “But that’s a strong free speech stance there.”
However, the survey also highlighted significant partisan divides. While half of Democrats believe America is on the right track regarding free speech, only one-fifth of Republicans share that view.
Additional survey results focused on campus protests and the actions of college administrations in response. Stevens observed that there is growing concern over the state of free speech, especially among liberals and progressives, who are increasingly aware that censorship can be turned against them just as easily.
The survey also found that the percentage of respondents worried about being fired over their speech dropped from 28% in April to 20% in July, and the number of people who self-censor “fairly” or “very” often also decreased from 27% to 23%. The survey was conducted before the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
