Survey: 23% of college students support violence to stop a speaker they disagree with

In a worrying trend for free speech on college campuses, a growing number of students are expressing support for shouting down a campus speaker they disagree with, or even using violence to stop a speaker, a new survey finds.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofit group that supports free speech in institutions of higher education, published its 2021 College Free Speech Rankings on Tuesday. The rankings assess the free speech climate on various college and university campuses by surveying the students who go to school there. The survey gathered the opinions of more than 37,000 students at 159 of "America's largest and most prestigious campuses," FIRE said in a news release.

The report asks students about their ability to discuss topics like race, gender, and politics, as well as whether they feel held back from openly sharing their views because of peer pressure. Schools are then ranked based on how favorable their students say the environment is for free speech.