Americans Reject Government Muzzle; Free Speech Trumps Political Correctness

Nearly three quarters of Americans say the government should allow free speech without interference, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday.

The poll asked voters whether they thought the government should decide what types of hate speech should be banned. One-third of respondents said the government should be allowed to step in and regulate so-called hate speech, but the majority said the government should be hands-off with regulating hate speech.Rasmussen Reports did not define hate speech for the respondents.

The majority of voters also believe giving people the right to free speech is more important than making sure people arent offended by what others say.

Thursdays poll results follow a related poll released Wednesday that found nearly 56 percent of American voters view the government as a threat rather than a protector of individual rights. Only 30 percent of respondents in the poll believe the feds are protecting individual rights.

The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted on June 3-4. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.