A new report released by the Knight Foundation and Gallup shows that US college students generally support free speech, but a more nuanced analysis highlights a divide based on ethnicity and gender, as well as the insidious effect social media can have on the First Amendment.
The value of free speech
The report, entitled The First Amendment on Campus 2020 Report: College Students’ Views of Free Expression, found that 7 in 10 college students (68 per cent) regarded free speech rights as being “extremely important” to democratic models of government. At the same time, 69 per cent of respondents said an inclusive society that welcomes diverse groups is equally important.
America’s belief in the First Amendment is most obvious in the fact that a significant 81 per cent of students polled supported “a campus environment where students are exposed to all types of speech, even if they may find it offensive”.
Such a statistic is at odds with some universities across the world who have banned controversial speakers appearing at college lectures and panel discussions.
The influence of race and gender
Despite a general acceptance of the importance of freedom of speech, the report also found that race and gender played a pivotal role in how individuals viewed their freedom enshrined in the constitution. For instance, the report highlighted that male, non-Hispanic white students are more likely “to strongly agree” that the First Amendment protects people like themselves.
Other salient statistics frame freedom of speech as a largely white male construction. For instance, the Knight and Gallup report found that women are twice as likely as men (23 per cent vs. 11 per cent) “to prefer that colleges protect students by prohibiting certain types of speech rather than exposing them to all types of speech”.
Black college students were nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to also prefer their college prohibit certain types of speech (28 per cent vs. 15 per cent).
It was also concluded that 38 per cent of students (up from 25 per cent in 2017) “say they have personally felt uncomfortable because of something someone said on campus. Students who felt uncomfortable are most likely to report that the offending comments referenced their race or gender”.
Faith in the freedom of speech and press
The Knight and Gallup report concluded that US college students “see free speech and free press as less secure than they did in 2016”.
Indeed, US college students’ belief in free speech rights has dropped 14 per cent since 2016, from 73 per cent in 2016 to 64 per cent in 2017. Press freedom rights were another topic of concern. In 2016, 81 per cent of respondents believed press freedom rights were secure. This dipped markedly to 60 per cent in 2017 but has now improved slightly to 65 per cent.
Concerningly, most students polled believe that free speech “is less secure than other First Amendment rights”, and 63 per cent of students agree that their campus climate “can deter free speech”; up from 54 per cent in 2016.
Social media and freedom of speech
While the benefits of social media to connect individuals in a wide variety of discourse is not in doubt, its ability to divide, deceive and generate hostility has been a problem for some time and is well documented..
While many US college students regard social media as “the central form of campus discussion”, there is general agreement that online discourse is becoming increasingly uncivil.
To highlight this point, the report found that only 29 per cent of current US college students say “discussion on social media is usually civil”; that percentage has dropped from 41 per cent in 2016.
“More students than in the past agree that social media can stifle free speech — both because people block those whose views they disagree with (60 per cent, up from 48 per cent in 2016) and because people are afraid of being attacked or shamed by those who disagree with them (58 per cent, up from 49 per cent in 2016), the report said.
Conclusion
In a similar vein to the 2016 and 2017 Gallup-Knight Foundation surveys, US college students appear to strongly espouse the ideals of free expression enshrined in the First Amendment, including political dissent. However, as the report shows, there are limits to free speech, and many of the respondents believe free speech protections should not be “extended to hateful speech targeting minority groups”.
A sobering finding in the report is that US college students today view First Amendment freedoms as less secure than in previous years.
“Today’s students are also more likely than those a few years ago to report feeling uncomfortable – if not unsafe – because of things others have said on campus,” the report says.
While most concur that the First Amendment protects their freedom of speech, a variety of subgroups hold contrary views and “are more willing to endorse campus policies that impose restrictions on hate speech”. These include women, racial minorities and Democrats.
“These differences indicate that college students’ backgrounds and experiences greatly shape their views of the limits of free speech,” the report said.
“As such, colleges may find a one-size-fits-all approach to promoting free expression will likely leave many students unhappy with campus policies and possibly feeling marginalized on campus.
“The challenge of achieving a balanced policy on free expression has become more complicated as technology has led to much campus expression shifting online, a place that students increasingly feel stifles expression rather than promotes it.
“As such, colleges that want to ensure all students have the opportunity to say what they think in a respectful environment need to take into account the virtual campus environment as well as the physical one.”
To access the latest Knight-Gallup report, click here.