Survey: 34% of college students say using violence to stop speech might be acceptable
From CNN's Holly Yan
One-third of college students say using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases, according to a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
“Every year, we survey 70,000 college students. And we ask them their acceptance for using violence to stop a campus speech,” FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino told CNN’s Audie Cornish.
“This year, we found that 34% of college students support – to some degree – using violence to shut down a campus speech,” Perrino said.
“That’s up from 24% in 2021. That’s showing a cancer in our body politic, in our public debate. Again, free speech is what we do instead of violence.”
