Hate Speech Unacceptable Say 79 Percent of Americans

Seventy-nine percent of Americans find hate speech morally unacceptable. The Cato Institute’s 2017 Free Speech and Tolerance Survey found that only 19 percent disagree.^[1]

However, while few consider hate speech morally acceptable, most Americans (59 percent) do not want the government to ban it.

One of the reasons is that 82 percent of Americans recognize that people can’t agree on what speech is hateful and offensive. The Cato survey documented this difficulty by presenting respondents with specific statements. Among other things, the results showed that liberals and conservatives had significantly different views on whether certain statements were "hateful, offensive, or simply a political opinion."

Footnotes:

1. Cato Institute, "The State of Free Speech and Tolerance in America," October 31, 2017

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Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.