A majority of Americans are concerned about the rise of antisemitism and white nationalism in the United States, a USA Today/Suffolk University Poll finds, and most say social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have an obligation to curtail hate speech on their sites.
This has become a pressing issue as some celebrities and public figures have blatantly expressed antisemitic views, and online slurs against Jews and Black people have proliferated.
In addition, Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, recently dismantled some policies that formerly protected against hate speech on the social media platform. He disbanded the Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group of civil rights and child safety advocates formed to guide Twitter on content moderation issues.
Facebook says it doesn't allow hate speech on the site, but PBS reported that around the world the system "has approved dehumanizing hate speech."
In the poll, 52% of those surveyed say social media companies have a responsibility to restrict hateful or inaccurate posts. But 39% say the sites should be an open forum, even if speech is hateful or inaccurate.
People in the poll diverge according to gender and political philosophy. Men by 11 percentage points favor an open forum online, whereas women by 38 points say hate speech should be limited.
Liberals and moderates overwhelmingly support restricting hate speech online, while conservatives by more than 2-1 oppose it, USA Today reported.
In the survey, 74% of Americans say they are concerned about rising hate speech; 49%, are "very concerned."
While Democrats are more alarmed than Republicans, "a majority across lines of race, region, age, and partisanship see a worrisome rise in hatred against Black and Jewish Americans," USA Today reported.
Musk scores a 34% favorable rating and 42% unfavorable rating in the poll. While 60% of Republicans view him favorably compared to 7% of Democrats.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, warns there is "a potentially dangerous picture of Musk being aligned with white nationalism."
Among those who aren't concerned about hate speech, Musk is seen favorably by 61%. Among those who are very concerned, he is seen unfavorably by 63%.
Black voters view Musk unfavorably by more than 3-1 at 54%-16%.
The poll of 1,000 registered voters taken by landline and cellphone Dec. 7-11 has a margin of 3.1 percentage points.
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