Politics

Almost Half Of Biden Voters Think Gov Should ‘Regulate Or Restrict’ Speech They Consider ‘Offensive’

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Jason Cohen Contributor
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Nearly half of President Joe Biden’s supporters believe the government should clamp down on objectionable speech, according to polling by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics released on Wednesday.

Among individuals intending to vote for Biden in 2024, 47% think “the government should regulate or restrict the expression of views considered discriminatory or offensive,” according to the poll. Among individuals intending to vote for former President Donald Trump, 35% believe the government should exercise this control. (RELATED: Biden Admin Told Facebook That Censoring ‘Bad Content’ Was ‘Our Primary Concern’)

Close to one-third of likely Biden voters also believe “it is necessary to limit certain rights, like freedom of speech, to protect the feelings and safety of marginalized groups,” compared to 25% of likely Trump supporters, according to the poll.

The poll also found that the majority of likely Biden voters think the government should exert authority beyond the Constitution to implement gun control, enforce corporate diversity and redistribute wealth.

The Biden administration pressured social media platforms to censor speech related to COVID-19’s origin, according to internal Facebook correspondences reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A federal appeals court partially affirmed a lower court’s finding in September that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to censor speech, according to a court filing.

Slightly over one-third of Democratic voters also think Americans possess “too much freedom,” according to a September poll by RealClearPolitics. It also found that approximately 75% believe the government should censor “hateful” social media content.

Project Home Fire and InnovateMR polled 2,008 registered United States voters from Aug. 25 to Sept. 11, and the margin of error is plus or minus 2.2%, according to the methodology.

The White House and Biden campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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