68 percent of college students say free speech protections should extend to threats, inciting violence: Poll

More than two-thirds of college students say free speech protections on campuses should extend even to individuals who are inciting violence or threatening others, according to an Axios Vibes survey conducted by The Harris Poll and released Thursday.

The poll found 68 percent of students agreed with free speech protection extending to inciting violence. Free speech was a top-three concern for students, behind only tuition and safety.

While the support for even potentially inciting free speech protections appears bipartisan, the survey found it is somewhat split among gender lines, backed by 74 percent of men and only 61 percent of women.

The survey comes at a tumultuous time for universities as they have navigated how to handle the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Around 86 percent of college students say schools should make them feel safe when sharing opinions on tense political issues, and 77 percent argue free speech is needed even when it upsets others.

Furthermore, 55 percent of students think schools care more about pleasing donors than free speech, while 57 percent believe their college has a bias toward pro-Israel opinions. 

However, 70 percent of students think their college is addressing antisemitism concerns appropriately, while 64 percent also agree administrators are being fair toward Palestinian supporters.

Noncollege students see the issues very differently, with 43 percent backing free speech even when inciting violence. Only 37 percent of noncollege students say schools handle antisemitism well, with the same percentage also saying schools handle Palestinian supporters correctly.

The survey was conducted between Feb. 16-25 with 4,168 U.S. adults, 643 of whom were students in some sort of higher education program. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.