{"id":1984775,"date":"2023-07-28T03:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T07:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alone-and-confused-a-majority-of-americans-ditch-free-speech\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T03:18:18","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T07:18:18","slug":"alone-and-confused-a-majority-of-americans-ditch-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alone-and-confused-a-majority-of-americans-ditch-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Americans abandon free speech, feeling alone and confused."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falone-and-confused-a-majority-of-americans-ditch-free-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1984775&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Most\u2064 Americans Don&#8217;t Value Free Speech as a\u200c Fundamental Right<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2023\/07\/20\/most-americans-favor-restrictions-on-false-information-violent-content-online\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poll<\/a> from Pew Research Center released last week shows that a majority\u2064 of \u200bAmericans don\u2019t value <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/project-veritas-strips-cnn-naked\/\" title=\"Project Veritas Strips CNN Naked\">free speech<\/a> as a fundamental right.\u2062 When asked whether the government should restrict \u2062free\u2064 speech \u200donline as a means of curbing misinformation, 55 percent of\u2064 Americans said\u2063 it should. Even worse,\u200d 65 percent of Americans believe tech companies should censor\u200b misinformation \u2014 as though the unelected oligarchs in Silicon Valley are \u2062more trustworthy than the elected oligarchs \u2063in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>As one might expect, there was a stark difference\u200d in\u200d responses when they were\u2062 broken down by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dcs-hotel-harrington-closes-for-january-6-pro-trump-march-after-pressure-over-proud-boys\/\" title=\"DC\u2019s Hotel Harrington Closes for January 6 Pro-Trump March After Pressure Over Proud Boys\">political affiliation<\/a>. Whereas 39\u200c percent of Republicans approved \u200bof\u200c restricting online\u200b speech, 70 \u200cpercent of Democrats supported the idea, contradicting the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/opinion\/liberalism-the-me-decade-and-now-3818719\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">liberal<\/a>\u201d label that Democrat supporters often use to describe themselves. Writer and journalist Alex Berenson <a href=\"https:\/\/alexberenson.substack.com\/p\/the-scariest-poll-youll-see-this?publication_id=363080&#038;post_id=135359418&#038;isFreemail=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dolefully concluded<\/a>, \u2064\u201cThe left \u2014 the <em>entire<\/em> left,\u200d readers <em>and<\/em> writers, consumers <em>and<\/em> producers of information \u2014 is clearly losing confidence in the First Amendment, telling itself a tale of the \u2063dangers of too much \u2062speech, and trying to wall off opinions \u200dand even facts it does\u2062 not like.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1152100781\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1eb3c080c8f3a9ed4ed814aeeba0d7fc fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1eb3c080c8f3a9ed4ed814aeeba0d7fc\"><\/div>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t always this\u2063 way. Only five years \u200cago, 40 percent of Democrat-leaning respondents approved \u2064of restricting free speech online, on par\u2063 with 37 percent of Republican-leaning respondents. Something happened in\u2063 society\u2064 that swayed a significant\u2063 portion of leftist Americans to flip their position on \u2062free speech.<\/p>\n<h2>Overdrive \u200cCampaign Against \u200c\u2018Misinformation\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s no mystery what this event was: \u200bthe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-air-force-to-fire-new-sentinel-icbm-in-2024-deploy-by-2029\/\" title=\"U.S. Air Force to Fire New \u201cSentinel\u201d ICBM in 2024, Deploy by 2029\">catastrophic response<\/a> to Covid-19. Even though the mass campaigns against misinformation started happening after Donald Trump\u2019s election and Brexit, the\u200d pandemic was when the quest to root out misinformation <a href=\"https:\/\/social-epistemology.com\/2022\/04\/21\/the-suppression-of-dissent-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-mitchell-b-liester\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">went into hyperdrive<\/a>. At that time, \u2063news media started\u2064 to warn that \u200bmisinformation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-53755067\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was resulting in hundreds of deaths<\/a>. This meant that anyone, <a href=\"https:\/\/lawliberty.org\/the-servile-sciences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">even esteemed scholars<\/a>, who questioned the merits of social distancing, lockdowns, two-week\u2063 quarantines, \u200bmRNA vaccines, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alone-and-confused-a-majority-of-americans-ditch-free-speech\/\" title=\"Many Americans abandon free speech, feeling alone and confused.\">wearing face masks\u2064 effectively put unsuspecting audiences<\/a> at risk of dying \u200cfrom Covid-19. If there were \u2062ever a time to deny American citizens their right to free speech, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/10\/13\/magazine\/free-speech.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this was\u200d it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Only three years later has it become more apparent that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/15\/if-you-were-a-sheep-during-covid-admit-you-were-wrong-and-do-better-next-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the experts\u200b were wrong<\/a> in nearly \u200cevery major aspect of the pandemic. It turns out that \u200dsilencing dissent <a href=\"https:\/\/amgreatness.com\/2021\/05\/09\/the-response-to-covid-19-shows-why-free-speech-is-essential\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mostly exacerbated the effects of Covid-19<\/a>, discouraging the use of effective therapeutics, setting students\u2062 years behind in their education, stoking political tensions, and wrecking the economy. Had people been\u2062 able to share their \u2064ideas freely, it\u2019s possible that Americans would have come out of the virus\u2064 with far less devastation.<\/p>\n<h2>Piercing the Leftist Bubble<\/h2>\n<p>Yet many still believe in the merits of censorship. In the post-Covid era, some\u200d people have \u2062become conditioned to depend on who they see as authorities, despite those authorities being\u200d horribly wrong again and again. They trust these voices more than their families,\u200d their peers, and even themselves. They won\u2019t even consider the possibility of listening to anyone else or thinking \u200dfor themselves \u2014 after all,\u2064 the experts have told them\u200d that doing so might\u2063 kill them. As \u200cwriter and professor\u200b Paul Gottfried explains in a <a href=\"https:\/\/amgreatness.com\/2023\/07\/10\/republicans-must-prepare-for-msm-praetorian-guard-and-democratic-trickery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent article<\/a>, reaching these \u200caudiences trapped in the leftist media \u2062bubble is close to impossible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-406a51baeee904dccb17dae121395191 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-406a51baeee904dccb17dae121395191\"><\/div>\n<p>As for why such dependence is more characteristic of leftists \u2064than conservatives, much of it\u2063 has to do with their personal situation. Which is more likely to trust\u2064 in\u2064 the experts at \u200ball costs: the single adult with a useless college \u2063degree who is underemployed, friendless, and in\u200d poor health, or the married adult who is gainfully employed, enjoys \u200ba\u200b rich community of friends and family, and lives\u2062 a healthy life? Which will be soothed by the dulcet tones of NPR radio hosts and feel intellectually validated by the acclaimed hacks at\u2064 The New York Times? Who\u2064 will want to be left alone to learn for themselves and live by their own principles even if it\u2019s unpopular?<\/p>\n<p>To <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-financial-bubbles-that-made-gamestop-look-like-nothing\/\" title=\"5 Financial \u2018Bubbles\u2019 That Made Gamestop Look Like Nothing\">make matters worse<\/a>,\u200c the pandemic response resulted\u200c in even more alienated, lonely people who are vulnerable to propaganda.<\/p>\n<p>I experienced this firsthand with \u200cone of my best friends. \u2064He decided to end his friendship with me because he believed my views\u2063 were not just misguided, but dangerous. Although it hurt at the time, I was able to \u2062eventually move on because I have \u200cplenty of other friends who appreciate me. As for him, he dumped the only friend\u200b he\u200b had and grew all the more insular \u200dand ideologically\u2064 radical.\u200c If you \u200dasked him if I should be silenced for perpetuating \u200bmisinformation, I have no doubt he would think so and that I should probably be legally punished for the untold\u2064 damage I\u2019ve caused with all \u2063my nonexpert opinions.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to\u2062 imagine there are many more such\u200c people in the country who think\u2062 this way. Not only \u2062are they told\u2064 by their favorite pundits that conservatives, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/the-maga-movements-a-bigger-threat-to-america-than-the-taliban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">particularly the \u2062\u201cMAGA conservatives,\u201d<\/a> pose an\u2062 existential threat to\u2062 the country, but they also have no one in\u200c their lives \u200bto give them\u2063 a reality check.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-574e790a8285ea642f930c9422776dfd fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-574e790a8285ea642f930c9422776dfd\"><\/div>\n<p>Thus, it will take more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/articles\/2023\/07\/25\/pew_research_democrats_value_free_speech_far_less_than_republicans_149538.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">good arguments and appeals\u200b to the Constitution<\/a> \u2062to preserve the right of free speech. It will take strong relationships and <a href=\"https:\/\/thechristianrationalist.com\/2017\/06\/16\/cherish-thick-communities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">communities<\/a> \u2064that can help Americans cultivate \u2064self-reliance and recognize\u200d the necessity of free speech as well as ward off the constant lies of leftist propaganda. Without that foundation,\u200d it\u2019s so much more tempting to succumb to the self-proclaimed authorities and demonize dissenters \u200cwho\u200d speak\u2063 inconvenient truths.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent Pew Research Center poll reveals that most Americans do not consider free speech a fundamental right. Over half of Americans (55%) believe that the government should limit online free speech to combat misinformation. Additionally, a concerning 65% of Americans think that tech companies are responsible for regulating speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":1984776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1984775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1984775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1984775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1984775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1984775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}