Another depressing survey on free speech attitudes in the US

The Cato Institute (a mixed bag for sure, but they’re typically excellent on civil liberties issues) has published a massive report on “Attitudes about Free Speech, Campus Speech, Religious Liberty, and Tolerance of Political Expression” in the US. I’ve only skimmed through parts of it and I have some bones to pick with parts of the report (more on that below), but the bulk of the results comport with what we’ve seen from other recent surveys on the matter, and some of the findings are disturbing:

[T]he survey also found Americans willing to censor, regulate, or punish a wide variety of speech and expression they personally find offensive:

• 51% of strong liberals say it’s “morally acceptable” to punch Nazis.

• 53% of Republicans favor stripping U.S. citizenship from people who burn the American flag.

• 51% of Democrats support a law that requires Americans use transgender people’s preferred gender pronouns.

• 47% of Republicans favor bans on building new mosques.

• 58% of Democrats say employers should punish employees for offensive Facebook posts.

• 65% of Republicans say NFL players should be fired if they refuse to stand for the national anthem.

And civil libertarians wept. I’d bet they also really lurve the Constitution and wouldn’t dream of violating the First Amendment, no sirree.

That said, some parts of the survey ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Like this graph:

All that shows is that liberals are more likely to be offended by speech that’s offensive to liberals. It’s hardly an impartial sampling of talking points from both political aisles. You can guess how fast those majorities would flip if you added viewpoints such as “A person who says anti-gay discrimination is wrong”, “A person who says gun ownership should be more regulated” and “A person who says Trump is the worst US president in history”.

A chart combining both sets of views would be a hell of a lot more representative of the general populace, and it might be quite insightful (would liberals or conservatives react with greater offense on average?). The above chart is neither.

(via @radleybalko)