Rise of Social Media May be Linked to Erosion of Free Speech on Campus

Rise of Social Media May be Linked to Erosion of Free Speech on Campus

This is an interesting point. You can’t just block and unblock people in real life.

The Washington Examiner reports:

Social media is aiding the decline of free speech

The decline of free speech on campus may be linked to the rise of social media, according to a new Gallup-Knight Foundation survey of U.S. college students.

The study, which surveyed 3,014 U.S. college students, showed that online discourse influences the way students view and use their free speech rights. Both the anonymity factor and blocking features on social media lend to the inability to have civil discussions in person.

“We must acknowledge that, for students, the public square has moved online,” Knight Foundation vice president Sam Gill writes.

A majority of students said that most of their social and political discussions take place on social media, 57 percent, instead of in-person on campus, 43 percent.

“They increasingly agree that social media can stifle free expression because people can block those whose views they disagree (60 percent) or because people are afraid of being attacked (59 percent),” a press release reads.

The study found that eight in 10 students “agree that the Internet has been responsible for an increase in hate speech.”

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