#free-speech — Public Fediverse posts

Earlier: In an attempt to overcomply with #Texas law, the University of #Houston will eliminate over 100 women's studies, gender and sexuality courses from the core curriculum.

It won't be enough to appease extremist Republicans. https://www.texasobserver.org/university-of-houston-ends-gender-sexuality-courses-op-ed/

#FreeSpeech #education #law #politics #USpol #news #censorship

DATE: August 20, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Gen Z Americans are more willing to use blockades and violence to stop public speakers

URL: https://www.psypost.org/gen-z-americans-are-more-willing-to-use-blockades-and-violence-to-stop-public-speakers/

A survey of over 4,000 individuals found that Gen Z Americans tend to be more accepting of shoutdowns, blockades, and violence as methods to suppress speech than their older compatriots, regardless of whether they are asked about these tactics in the abstract or against speech they find personally offensive. Young liberals tended to be more supportive of these methods compared to conservatives when asked abstractly worded questions, but this ideological gap disappeared when the questions referred to suppressing specific, highly offensive ideas. The paper was published in PS: Political Science & Politics.

Free speech is a cornerstone of democratic society. However, people do not always agree about what should happen when speech is considered offensive or harmful. One of the personal and social characteristics that allows free speech to exist is political tolerance. Political tolerance involves allowing people to express ideas that we strongly oppose. In this way, controversial speech is an important test of a person’s commitment to the principles of political tolerance.

Recent research suggests that attitudes toward free speech in the United States may be changing, particularly among younger generations. Younger and more progressive Americans appear increasingly likely to weigh concerns about equality, inclusion, and harm against an unrestricted commitment to freedom of expression. The issue becomes especially complicated when protests themselves are intended to prevent other people from speaking. Although Americans generally support peaceful protest, support falls considerably when protesters employ disruptive, coercive, or violent tactics.

Study author Kevin Jay Wallsten explored the American public’s views on speech-suppressing, disruptive protest tactics. He noted that previous research generally examined tolerance in one of three ways: by exploring abstract support for free speech; by exploring how much people tolerate speech from groups the researchers believe are broadly unpopular, such as communists or racists (the “fixed-group” approach); and by exploring tolerance toward a “least-liked group” that the respondents previously selected from a list.

He notes that the first two approaches can overestimate tolerance because they do not measure whether respondents would actually extend civil liberties to groups they find disagreeable. Researchers using the fixed-group approach do not definitively know if their respondents actually find the groups they are asking about disagreeable, or to what extent. They only gauge the general view of the public.

To address this, Wallsten conducted a nationally representative survey of 4,188 Americans. Study participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the first condition (the “non-group” or abstract approach), participants were asked: “How acceptable [always/sometimes/rarely/never] would you say it is for people to engage in the following action to protest a public speaker?: (1) shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking; (2) blocking other people from attending a speech; and (3) using violence to stop a speech.”

In the second condition (the “most-offensive-idea” approach), participants were first asked to select the statement they found most offensive from a list (e.g., “All whites are racist oppressors” or “America got what it deserved on 9/11”). They were then asked whether the protest tactics described in the first condition would be acceptable when used against a speaker advocating the specific idea they just selected.

Results showed that the idea participants found to be most offensive depended heavily on their political ideology. For example, the statement “January 6th was a peaceful protest” was selected as the most offensive by almost 25% of liberals, but only 1% of conservatives. On the other hand, statements like “All whites are racist oppressors” were much more frequently selected by conservatives. Interestingly, the shares of conservatives and liberals who selected “America got what it deserved on 9/11” and “All immigrants should be arrested and deported” as the most offensive were relatively similar.

Results further showed that the three tactics the survey asked about were not equally endorsed. Participants were most accepting of shouting down a speaker and least accepting of using violence. Overall, the youngest participants (Gen Z) tended to be more accepting of all three methods of suppressing speech than older generations. Furthermore, the study found no significant difference between Gen Z respondents who attend college and those who do not, suggesting this acceptance is a generational shift rather than a result of higher education socialization.

Ideological differences also depended entirely on how the question was asked. Young liberals tended to be more supportive of these methods compared to conservatives and moderates only in the abstract condition where the speaker’s statements were not specified. However, when respondents evaluated tactics used against a speaker making a statement they personally found offensive, acceptance increased among conservatives and moderates, completely erasing the ideological gap.

“These analyses reveal important generational differences in how people think about speech-suppressing shoutdowns, blockades, and violence. Members of Gen Z consistently express more permissiveness about these tactics than older cohorts,” the study author concluded.

“Although previous research suggests that young liberals are particularly supportive of disruptive protest actions, this study demonstrates that ideological polarization is present only when survey respondents are asked abstractly worded questions. When asked to evaluate disruptive acts targeting speakers that they find personally offensive, ideological gaps between liberals and conservatives close.”

The study contributes to the scientific understanding of political tolerance in the U.S. However, it should be noted that all data came from self-reports (asking people how acceptable certain actions are to them in theory) rather than observing their behavior in real-world situations. This leaves room for self-reporting bias—where people answer how they think they should feel rather than how they would actually act—to have affected the results.

The paper, “Generational and Ideological Divides in Support for Speech-Suppressing Protest,” was authored by Kevin Jay Wallsten.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/gen-z-americans-are-more-willing-to-use-blockades-and-violence-to-stop-public-speakers/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #GenZ #FreeSpeech #ProtestTactics #SpeechSuppression #ShoutDowns #Blockades #ViolenceInProtest #PoliticalTolerance #GenerationalDivide #PublicSpeaking

Some Tech Companies Have Privately Pushed Back on ICE Subpoenas. They Should All Do More.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/some-tech-companies-have-privately-pushed-back-ice-subpoenas-they-should-all-do

#FreeSpeech #Privacy

RE: https://climatejustice.social/@PeterRu/117128752399395343

Try to set fire to an Asylum Seeker hotel and you'll still be called an 'activist' though. 😒

#UKpol #UKpolitics #Fascists #FreeSpeech #Protest

A DOJ whistleblower report reveals Trump
administration campus probes had
predetermined outcomes and violated free
speech. Ignoring anti-Muslim bias, it highlights an alarming reality: a direct threat to democracy and the Constitution that allows obscurantist
ideologies into universities by ignoring them.
#AcademicFreedom #CivilRights #FreeSpeech
#2k115

Australia's barriers to free speech

Our ability to openly discuss important issues is limited. Some topics are not allowed, others discouraged. Without public debate there cannot be a full understanding of problems and solutions.

#auspol #democracy #freespeech

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/19/activist-forced-out-of-us-after-criticising-trump-aligned-colombian-politician. #Freespeech in the #US? Apparently not - not if you dare to disagree with Donald #Trump.

Australia and gambling

I expect that addiction to gambling is a most destructive and lonely disease. Eroding the individuals sense of self worth, and devastating consequences for those closest to them.

#auspol #democracy #freespeech

Australia - Intelligent systems usage and reach

We are not fully aware of the breadth of intelligent system usage across various fields. It is crucial to map out where these systems are being applied now and determine their total reach within society.

#auspol #democracy #freespeech

Australia the cuckold country.

It makes no difference who the US President is, it makes no difference who the Australian PM is. Our parliaments are owned and operated by the military industrial complex, big pharma and big tech. The handover is on full speed ahead.

#auspol #democracy #freespeech

Australia

Somewhere in my confusion I wonder if governments are making decisions using AI. AI that has been trained on the propaganda politicians, and their media, present has truth. Thereby leading AI to churn out suggested actions that continue to fail any test of worth and decency.

#auspol #democracy #freespeech

ABC Sues The FCC For Massive First Amendment Violations

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/18/abc-sues-the-fcc-for-massive-first-amendment-violations/

It's 'their' Free Speech, never 'ours'

Not seen them make a squeak about Palestine Action...

#FSU #GrahamLinehan #FreeSpeech #EpsteinClass #PalestineAction

"Staff at a campaign group that claims to defend #FreeSpeech in Britain said it would “need to explain” how it spent roughly £60,000 that was crowdfunded for a legal case that was ultimately fought by a pro bono lawyer."

#UKPol #FSU

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/18/toby-young-free-speech-union-60000-gbp

Billionaires should be banned from media ownership - CHANGE MY MIND
#AUSpol #FreeSpeech

The shock factor of hundreds of dildos made the Cocks Not Glocks protest memorable, and the conversation that it launched at UT continued beyond the demonstration. Today, free speech on #Texas public university campuses faces a chill that makes the environment far less hospitable to both student and faculty speech. https://www.texasobserver.org/cocks-not-glocks-at-10/

#FreeSpeech #education #politics #USpol #history #GunViolence

RE: https://masto.ai/@meduza_en/117112319569408172

Aaaand here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, you can these days get 50 or 100 years in the slammer for similar bullshit "offenses" — witness the Minnesota 15 kangaroo court case.

#uspol #fascism #russia #usa #freespeech

The case would be one of the most significant dealing with #religion in #PublicSchools since an ideologically divided #SCOTUS ruled in 2022 that a former public high school football coach’s on-field prayers were protected under the #FirstAmendment’s right to #FreeSpeech.
In the current case, the [ultra-conservative] US Court of Appeals for the #5thCircuit in New Orleans upheld the #Texas #law on a 9-8 vote, overturning a lower-court ruling that found the measure #unconstitutional.

#Constitution

Federal Court Rules That Blocking Speech Is Protected By The First Amendment, But Recommending It Isn’t

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/17/federal-court-rules-that-blocking-speech-is-protected-by-the-first-amendment-but-recommending-it-isnt/

The double standard of social media governance:plain text reposts bypass automation filters and collect thousands of uncritical comments, while independent analytical profiles face reach
restrictions.
Algorithms are intentionally tuned to reward immediate emotional reaction over complex geopolitical or financial reality. True platform
accountability starts with algorithm transparency.
#Governance #TechNews #FreeSpeech

🇳🇱 Franse Grondwettelijke Raad blokkeert ID-plicht voor sociale media https://nos.nl/artikel/2626868-frans-verbod-op-sociale-media-voor-kinderen-onder-15-jaar-afgekeurd
"In strijd met Grondwet"

Daarom zijn wij niet alleen tegen ID-plicht voor sociale media,
maar ook voor Grondwettelijk Hof om onze democratische rechtsstaat te beschermen! #privacy #freespeech

@noah check YouTube.com just practice your #3DPrinting #design I reguard as #freespeech to design & 3DPrint what you want ** within the law & your personal moral compass

Mastodon suspended @2k_115 without proof,labeling its market insights a "Big Tech Al bot".Before the ban, users targeted the profile with severe insults-ironically arguing with an
algorithm in their heads. A surreal cover-up to
silence high-finance truth.
#Fediverse #TechNews #FreeSpeech

Mastodon rejected 2K115's appeal, upholding
the ban under the paranoid claim of being a "Big
Tech Al spy bot." We've reached a new era
where bots file administrative appeals! This
arbitrary moderation failure won't silence us-
we're already live on another server.
#Fediverse #TechNews #FreeSpeech
MASTODON SHOCK CONFIRMS SUSPENSION ON 2K115