A new survey from the Knight Foundation published on Tuesday, July 30, found that 27% of college students are in favor of restricting free speech “they may find offensive or biased,” up from 22% in 2021. Students that identified as Democrats were mostly split on whether to allow all speech on campus, even speech they find offensive. However, 7 in 10 Republican students said that they believed it is important to be exposed to all speech, even that which is offensive or biased.
Overall, 70% of students surveyed of all political ideologies reported that speech can be just as harmful as physical violence. Some students said that they felt uncomfortable with references to race, gender or sexual orientations, even if it was not directed toward them.
Additionally, research found that students’ faith in their First Amendment rights have fallen since 2016. The report blames the current political climate for the disillusionment.
“With campuses cracking down on protests, political leaders casting a questioning eye on the decisions of university administrators, and emerging technology making disinformation easier and faster to produce, the position of higher education as a forum for open discussion has never been more crucial or imperiled,” the report stated.
Sixty percent of students agreed with those sentiments and reported that the climate at their school stopped some from speaking their minds freely over fears it may be deemed offensive.
The findings in the survey follow crackdowns on student activists in the wake of some reportedly chaotic and violent protests.
Meanwhile, Harvard is in the process of adopting rules that would prohibit unapproved displays, signage and chalking. The policy would also ban the filming or photographing of individuals on campus without their consent. The proposal reportedly appears to be in response to students who were doxed for participating in campus protests.
The study involved the polling of more than 1,600 students. The Knight Foundation is a journalism and free speech nonprofit.