August 1, 2024 - 8:20pm
More than half of Americans believe the First Amendment goes “too far” in guaranteeing free speech, according to new polling from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
In total, 53% of Americans, including 61% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans, believe the First Amendment goes too far. About 40% at least somewhat trust the Government to determine which speech is problematic, joined by about 25% who trust the Government “a little” on this front.
Under the First Amendment, the US has more robust free speech rights than other Western nations, with Americans free to make offensive and inflammatory comments that would be banned in much of Europe without Government penalty. Germany’s ban on Holocaust denial, and the UK’s criminal penalties for obscene and offensive social media posts, would both be unconstitutional in the US. These rights, however, are not universally celebrated by Americans.
Left-wing individuals and organisations have been cited as being more responsible for opposing free speech in the past decade, pushing for the deplatforming of conservative speakers on college campuses and leading pressure campaigns to have conservatives fired from their jobs. This includes the resignation of Mozilla Firefox co-founder Brendan Eich in 2014, who had previously donated to a California ballot initiative which opposed same-sex marriage, a moment often cited as the beginning of contemporary cancel culture. More recently, reporters have released the names and personal information of anonymous Right-wing social media influencers, and elected Democrats have suggested journalists who covered the Twitter Files story posed a danger to the country.
Elements of the Right, however, have also been softening on their commitment to free speech. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley explicitly cited anti-Israel content as a motivating factor for banning TikTok last year, a violation of the principle that Government restrictions can’t be content-based. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot similarly called for a crackdown on campus protesters in the state on the basis of alleged antisemitism, rather than a content-neutral application of anti-trespassing laws.
“Evidently, one out of every two Americans wishes they had fewer civil liberties,” Fire Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens said in a press release. “Many of them reject the right to assemble, to have a free press, and to petition the government. This is a dictator’s fantasy.”
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