Nearly one in five young people (20%) in a poll of nearly 1,500 Americans believe physical violence is sometimes justified to stop someone from making “harmful” public statements, according to a new national survey released by Florida State University’s Institute for Governance and Civics (IGC).
Key findings:
20% of young people (18-29) say violence is sometimes justified to stop ‘harmful’ speech, almost twice as many as adults overall (11%).
59% of Americans think some speech can be as harmful as physical violence
Americans are nearly evenly divided on whether freedom of speech should be sacrificed for the sake of social harmony and “inclusion,” with 43% opposed and 37% in favor.
People who equate speech with violence are significantly more likely to support restrictions on expression, even if they personally oppose the use of force.
“These findings demonstrate an alarming erosion of free speech principles, especially among Americans who will shape our nation’s civic culture for decades to come,” said Ryan Owens, director of the Institute for Governance and Civic Studies.
When one in five young people believes that violence to silence speech is justified, Owens says, we are not only witnessing a failure in civic education, but a fundamental threat to self-government.
The report comes as debate rages nationally over campus speech, political violence, and the boundaries of acceptable speech. “The generation gap is particularly concerning,” co-author Zach Goldberg added. “Not only are young people more likely to equate speech with violence, but they are also more willing to use force to stop it. This represents a major departure from traditional American norms of free speech and political tolerance.”
