Survey: Free Speech Support Is Eroding in America
Last month, Vice President J.D. Vance lectured European leaders about their troubling retreat from free speech, calling their actions “shocking to American ears” and a threat to democracy itself. Yet new global survey data reveal a troubling incongruity in Vance’s own backyard: Despite boasting the world’s strongest constitutional protections, Americans’ support for free speech is eroding dramatically, particularly among younger generations.Â
At a time when the Trump administration weaponizes power against its critics and the left increasingly equates speech with harm, America is losing its civil libertarian commitment precisely when this foundational right faces unprecedented pressures from both cultural intolerance and governmental overreach. If Americans fail to recognize and reverse this trend, the country’s status as a beacon of free expression risks fading.
The 2025 Future of Free Speech Index, based on surveys conducted in 33 countries, places the United States ninth globally in free speech support—a respectable but hardly exceptional position. More concerning is the trajectory: The U.S. has experienced the third-largest decline in support for free speech since our previous survey in 2021, behind only Japan and Israel. Â
This phenomenon is part of a broader “free speech recession” happening globally, with twice as many countries showing substantial decreases in support for free expression as showing increases.
 But America’s retreat is particularly notable given its unique constitutional protection and self-conception as free speech’s foremost defender.
In fact, the strongest popular support for free speech is found in the Old World, with Norway and Denmark first and second and Sweden in the top five, along with two democratic backsliders: Hungary and Venezuela. These latter cases present a fascinating paradox—populations that strongly value free expression despite living under governments increasingly hostile to this right. This disconnect between “demand” for free speech and its actual “supply” suggests that citizens in these countries recognize what they’re losing as their governments tighten restrictions.
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of America’s free speech recession is the generational divide in attitudes. Young Americans (ages 18 to 34) now show significantly less tolerance for controversial speech than their elders across every category we measured. The magnitude of these shifts since 2021 is remarkable:
- Support for allowing statements insulting the national flag has plummeted 28 percentage points among young adults.
- Willingness to tolerate speech supporting homosexual relationships has dropped 20 points.
- Acceptance of speech offensive to minority groups has declined 12 points.
- Tolerance for speech offensive to one’s religion has fallen 14 points.
These aren’t minor fluctuations—they represent fundamental shifts in values within a short period. While older Americans (ages 55 and over) have maintained relatively stable attitudes, showing only single-digit declines in most categories, the steep drops among younger cohorts raise profound questions about the future of free expression in America.
College-educated Americans show another surprising shift. This group, traditionally associated with openness to diverse viewpoints, has markedly dec
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