Americans love the First Amendment, but don't fully understand it, new report shows
Americans deeply value their First Amendment rights, but lack agreement — and in many cases, understanding — of where their rights should apply, a new report released Wednesday found.
The annual “First Amendment: Where America Stands” report by the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to promote First Amendment education and awareness, surveyed 801 respondents across the country in early March. The 2023 report marks the 25th conducted by the Freedom Forum.
Despite various fluctuations in opinions on the First Amendment, one thing stands clear, according to Kevin Goldberg, a First Amendment specialist at the Freedom Forum.
Americans love the First Amendment, even if they don’t fully get it, he said.
“We definitely see fractures in American society at large, but most Americans still agree that the First Amendment is a very good thing,” he said. “I would use the word revere. I think they definitely see it as a tool that we can use to bridge divides in our country, and that’s been true year over year.”
When asked whether respondents would ratify the First Amendment again today, a “consistent majority” of 64% said yes. And while 62% additionally said that the First Amendment should never change — mostly men, Baby Boomers and white respondents — 7% of respondents said the First Amendment goes too far in protecting residents — a stark increase from 3% last year.
“There are some chipping away when you look at the underlying data,” Goldberg said. “Some Americans are willing to trade off some parts of the First Amendment to suit their own needs, which I think is a little troubling and is the antithesis of the First Amendment.”
The differences in opinion come most in the details, according to Goldberg. While many respondents know of freedom of speech, many don’t know the other four freedoms enshrined in the amendment — religion, press, assembly and petition — or what is covered by these freedoms.
This, Goldberg said, is where the danger lies.
“I think what we're seeing is that there's a lot of work to be done,” he said. “But there is a lot of optimism in the possibility that we can get there.”
What Americans know about the freedom of speech
As the best-known freedom of the five, 40% say it is the most essential of the group. This number has steadily climbed — from 33% in 2020 and 37% in 2022. For the first time in the Freedom Forum's surveys, that number now surpasses the 37% who believe all five are equally essential.
Meanwhile, most respondents could not identify where their speech rights begin and end.
Around half of respondents knew that books, movies and music videos are protected by the freedom of speech, but another 30% thought that none of those were protected speech.
According to the survey:
62% know books are protected speech
54% know music is protected speech
51% know that movies are protected speech
45% know that sculptures are protected speech
43% know that memes are protected speech
And 30% think none of these are protected speech
The discussion of what materials are considered free speech is currently fueling debates across the country on what books are allowed in schools, and the limits of parents’ rights versus student rights.
In 2022, 57% of respondents believed there was “no appropriate reason” to ban books from being taught in classrooms or being made available in public school libraries.
Those who did agree with removing books “cited content about gender, sex, violence or race” as reasons for limiting access to specific books. In 2023, the survey found respondents are more likely to trust parents to make the decision about the removal of books, and less likely to trust policymakers.
Younger Americans skewed differently, with a majority of younger respondents saying that students should have significant input on content removal decisions.
Conversely, Gen Z respondents are least likely to agree that free speech on college campuses “foster the free exchange of ideas, even if those ideas are hateful to some.”
But they stand in the minority overall — 66% of respondents support free speech on college campuses even if its offensive.
On hate speech, a growing number of respondents believe that preventing hate speech is more important than protecting free speech, and hate speech should not be protected at all. The survey found 40% of respondents expressed this belief, with 54% of those citing the reason that hate speech can lead to discrimination or abuse of minority groups.
However, 60% hold that hate speech should be protected by the First Amendment. According to the survey, older, white men were more likely to oppose limits on hate speech, while people of color and younger respondents were more likely to support limitations on speech.
What Americans know about the freedom of religion
Although 64% of respondents are able to identify religion as a part of the First Amendment — placing it under the freedom of speeches’ 95% — only 11% consider it the most essential of the five freedoms.
The belief of its importance is also dependent on age: the younger the respondent, the less they believed the freedom of religion was the most essential.
Despite this discrepancy, a majority of respondents agreed that protecting personal religions convictions over preventing discrimination was a needed aspect of the First Amendment.
When asked if a baker or website designer should be able to “refuse to create a message … that violates their religious beliefs,” directly referencing the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of 303 Creatives v. Elenis, 63% said yes.
On the other hand, only 24% understood that the First Amendment doesn’t apply in the private workplace, something Goldberg calls “troubling.”
“The fact that only 24% of Americans correctly realize the First Amendment doesn't apply in a private workplace is concerning, because that's a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment,” he said. “It's one of those that will create a narrative that spins out of control, because these are the conversations people will have in daily lives. They're the things that have people debating around the Thanksgiving dinner table.”
What Americans know about the freedom of press
Trust in the press has remained shaky over the past year, with about 6 in 10 Americans able to identify the freedom as part of the First Amendment, and just as many saying it is important for the media to act as a watchdog on the government.
In 2022, only 37% of respondents said that media fulfilled this role effectively, with another 37% saying that they do not and 25% are unsure.
Today, 36% say that media is a “protector of liberty,” 21% view media as a “threat to liberty” and 42% are unsure.
Of those who view media as a threat, 41% believe reporting is politically biased and 34% believe reporting is based on corporate self-interest.
What Americans know about the freedom of assembly and petition
Awareness of the right to assemble and petition has decreased substantially in the past year, with only 57% of respondents able to identify the freedom — down from 67% in 2020.
“A lot of people use those two freedoms — assembly and petition — more often than they know, and sometimes even more than speech,” Goldberg said. “It is so impactful, because these are areas where people are coming together — and the fact that people don't recognize that as a big part of the First Amendment, or just have confusion about where those rights apply, is difficult.”
Although 86% know that college students can protest invited speakers on campus, for instance, 68% falsely believe that school administrators can limit high schoolers’ right to protest on public school grounds.
A strong majority did state their support for the right to speak at public meetings, however. The survey found 68% said that all voices should be allowed within reasonable rules and time constraints, regardless of the opinion voiced, while 17% preferred access with no time limits and 5% supported banning all public comments at meetings.
How to improve understanding of these rights
Despite the differences in understanding of these fundamental of rights, Goldberg said he is optimistic about the future of America’s relationship with the First Amendment.
“Again, this comes from the idea that people really do value it — they see it as vital to our society, and they would ratify it again today and a way to bridge differences," he said. "Are there problems? Yeah, of course. Could people know the First Amendment better? Yes. The good news is they want to know it better. They want to understand it better.”
Goldberg said the best way to connect people with their own rights is to make the First Amendment “tactile.”
“We saw again and again that people have views, but maybe not the understanding,” he said. “So if you can connect them in their daily lives to what happens if books are no longer protected, or to what happens if you walk into a business and are denied service, or to what happens in public meetings if people's rights to speak are taken away—you can reach people and help them reach understanding of their own rights.”
The USA Today Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: First Amendment: New reports shows how Americans view its freedoms
