Undergraduate college students increasingly want to see “offensive speech” criminalized, according to a Sunday poll by Inquire.
Forty percent of 803 respondents said they agree that “offensive speech should be subject to criminal prosecution,” compared to 52% who said they disagree, according to the survey sponsored by the Buckley Institute. “Agreement is up seven points from last year and is the highest in the three years this question has been asked,” the survey concluded.
The data cast doubt on free speech advocates’ hopes that the September 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah campus would prompt a reckoning in favor of civil debate in higher education. The Turning Point USA founder forged a career out of touring schools across the country to have open-microphone dialogue with students. His accused killer, Tyler Robinson, is set to face trial at an unspecified date after Utah prosecutors said Robinson admitted to fatally shooting Kirk over his conservative viewpoints.
Self-described liberal students in the Sunday poll were most likely to support criminalizing speech, with less support among self-described moderates and conservatives. Liberals were the only group of the three not to have a majority disagreeing with the proposal.
Attendees of state schools, as opposed to private school students, were more likely to support such prosecutions by 7 points, the survey said.
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Inquire also found 48% of respondents said they “cannot bring themselves to be close friends with someone who affiliates with a different political party than them,” while another 48% disagree. Again, identifying as left-leaning and attending state schools made respondents more like to agree with the statement. “Agreement is up two points from last year and ties the high of 48% recorded in 2023,” the study reads.
The poll had a 3.5% margin of error, according to Inquire.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
