Survey: Majority of Democratic Students Think Hate Speech Should Be Illegal

A recently published survey conducted by FIRE suggests that a majority of Democratic college students believe that hate speech should be illegal.

A new survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education concluded that left-leaning students are the most likely to disinvite controversial guest speakers. Not only do these students wish to block certain speakers from a platform at their university, they want to strip them of their legal right to speak.

Shockingly, an overwhelming 64 percent of “liberal” students think that hate speech should not be protected by the First Amendment. “A majority of very conservative students (60%) and almost one-half of Republicans (46%) think hate speech should be protected. In contrast, the majority of both very liberal students (64%) and Democrats (57%) think hate speech should not be protected,” the report reads.

The survey suggests that left-leaning students are far more likely to suggest that a guest speaker should be disinvited. “Democratic students are 19 percentage points more likely than their Republican peers to agree that there are times a speaker should be disinvited,” the report reads.

The survey suggests that left-leaning students who listen to opposing viewpoints are more likely than their right-leaning counterparts to change their opinion on a topic. “Higher proportions of Democratic (68%) and very liberal students (57%) agree to having changed an attitude or opinion after listening to a guest speaker than Republican (55%) or very conservative (45%) students,” the report reads.

A majority of Black and Latino students responded to the survey with concerns about being exposed to “offensive” ideas. Half of white students agreed, claiming that college students should be shielded from such ideas.

A majority of Black (76%) and Latino students (69%) agree that it is important to be part of a campus community where they are not exposed to intolerant or offensive ideas, as opposed to one-half of White students (51% agree). Sixty-three percent of very liberal students and 45% of very conservative students agree that it is important to be part of a campus community where they are not exposed to intolerant or offensive ideas—an 18 percentage point difference.