The Knight Foundation and Ipsos have a new survey on Americans’ views about free speech, and for those of us who consider spirited and even wrongheaded debate crucial to democracy, there’s both good news and bad.
Let’s start with the good news. Asked whether freedom of speech is an important constitutional right, 99% of respondents in the Knight survey said yes. The only other right with such near-unanimous endorsement is the equal protection of the laws.
So much for the good news.
