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Illusory interparty disagreement: Partisans agree on what hate speech to censor but do not know it
Brittany C Solomon1, Matthew E K Hall2, Abigail Hemmen2
1Department of Management and Organization, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN.
Summary
Partisans largely agree on censoring hate speech, but misperceive opposing views. Democrats and Republicans differ on the extent of censorship, not the types of hate speech targeted. Misunderstandings about out-party preferences fuel these debates.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Communication Studies
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Content regulation of hate speech on social media is a contentious issue, particularly amid intense partisan polarization in the US.
- Existing debates often focus on whether to censor hate speech and when, but less is understood about partisan agreement on specific types versus extent of censorship.
- Understanding partisan perceptions of out-party censorship preferences is crucial for navigating these complex social media debates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether partisans disagree on the types of hate speech to censor on social media or merely on the quantity of censorship.
- To examine whether partisans accurately understand the censorship preferences of the opposing political party.
- To identify the basis of partisan differences in hate speech censorship attitudes.
Main Methods:
- A nationally representative conjoint survey experiment was conducted with a large sample of participants (N = 3,357) and decisions (N = 40,284).
- The experiment systematically varied attributes of hate speech (target, source, severity) to assess censorship preferences.
- Statistical analysis was used to compare agreement and disagreement on hate speech censorship between Democrats and Republicans.
Main Results:
- Democrats generally support more censorship of hate speech than Republicans.
- Despite differing levels of support, both parties show substantial agreement on which types of hate speech (based on target, source, and severity) are most deserving of censorship.
- Partisans exhibit significant misperceptions regarding the other party's censorship preferences, particularly concerning speech targeting Whites.
Conclusions:
- Partisan differences in hate speech censorship attitudes are primarily driven by differing values regarding free speech and significant misperceptions of out-party views.
- Misunderstandings about the extent to which the other party is willing to censor specific types of hate speech contribute to polarization on this issue.
- These findings suggest that addressing misperceptions could be key to bridging partisan divides on social media content regulation.
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