A majority of Americans believe the US is going “in the wrong direction” on the issue of free speech even as a large share would favor censoring viewpoints they find offensive, a new study suggests.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, published to study Tuesday by examining the views of Americans on the subject of free speech.

The survey, a partnership between FIRE and the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College, Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania, is based on responses collected from 1,000 Americans between January 12 and 19. It has a margin of error of +/-3. percentage points.

Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed believe that the United States is going “in the wrong direction” in terms of “whether people can freely express their opinions.” Meanwhile, 31% believe that the free speech climate is going “in the right direction”. At the same time, 47% described the “right to free speech in America” ​​today as “somewhat safe”.

Another 29% viewed freedom of speech in the United States as “not at all safe,” while 18% characterized it as “very safe,” and 7% claimed that free speech was “completely safe.”

Polarization Laboratory Director Sean Westwood noted that opinions on free speech differed slightly based on party affiliation.

“Nearly half of Democrats think free speech rights are going in the right direction, compared to just 26 percent of Republicans,” he stated. “And more than a third of Republicans think the right to free speech is not safe, compared to just 17 percent of Democrats.”

The research also suggests that almost a third (31%) of Americans believe that the First Amendment to the US Constitution guaranteeing the right to free speech “goes too far”. This opinion is held by about a third of both Democrats and Republicans.

When asked “how worried” they were about losing their jobs because someone complained about something they said, a majority (36%) insisted they were “not at all worried” about losing their job, while 24% were “not too worried” . ” and 16% were “a little worried.”

Fourteen percent of those surveyed reported being “somewhat worried” about losing their jobs because of something they say, while the remaining 10% were “very worried.”

The survey also asked respondents to consider how often they engaged in self-censorship during the past month.

A majority of those surveyed (31%) told pollsters that they censored their opinions “sometimes, sometimes.” Twenty-four percent claimed to have self-censored “rarely once or twice,” followed by 19% who “never” censored their opinions, 17% who censored themselves “quite often, a few times a week” and 8% who insisted. that they do this “very often, almost every day.”

The survey included a series of statements deemed offensive and asked respondents to identify which offended them the most. It then instructed respondents to share their views on whether the local community should allow a person espousing such a belief to give a public speech or teach at a local college.

Majorities of respondents agreed that a person who had opinions they considered the most offensive should definitely not have the ability to “give a public speech” in the local community (29%) or “teach at the local college” (38%). Another 23% said their local community “probably shouldn't allow that person to give a public speech,” while 31% said the same about teaching at the local college.

Only 19% of those surveyed stated that a person with offensive views “probably should” be able to teach at the local college, while 26% felt that the person “probably should” be able to give a speech. Only 12% of the respondents thought that the local college should “definitely allow” a person with the unfavorable view to teach there, while 22% thought that the person should “definitely” be allowed to give a speech.

“Those results were disappointing, but not exactly surprising,” said FIRE Senior Research Advisor Sean Stevens in statement. “Here at FIRE, we've long observed that many people who say they care about free speech waver when it comes to beliefs they personally find offensive. But the best way to protect your speech in the future is to stand up for the right to. controversial and offensive speech today.”

However, a majority (59%) of respondents thought that the public library should either “probably” or “definitely” keep a book written by a person with an offensive point of view on the shelves. By comparison, 71% agreed that the person should “probably” or “definitely” not lose their job for holding the position.

The poll conducted by FIRE and the Polarization Research Lab is the first installment of the National Speech Index, a component of a new quarterly series titled “America's Political Pulse” that seeks to “allow researchers to track changing sentiment on free speech in America over time.” ”