this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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104
Self-censorship and the ‘spiral of silence’: Why Americans are less likely to publicly voice their opinions on political issues (theconversation.com)
submitted 21 hours ago by streetfestival@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I’m a political scientist, and I found that Americans were far less likely to publicly voice their opinions than even during the height of the McCarthy-era Red Scare.

According to a 2022 book written by political scientists Taylor Carlson and Jaime E. Settle, fears about speaking out are grounded in concerns about social sanctions for expressing unwelcome views.

And this withholding of views extends across a broad range of social circumstances. In 2022, for instance, I conducted a survey of a representative sample of about 1,500 residents of the U.S. I found that while 45% of the respondents were worried about expressing their views to members of their immediate family, this percentage ballooned to 62% when it came to speaking out publicly in one’s community. Nearly half of those surveyed said they felt less free to speak their minds than they used to.

About three to four times more Americans said they did not feel free to express themselves, compared with the number of those who said so during the McCarthy era.

No better example of this can be found than in the absence of debate in the contemporary U.S. about the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis, whatever outcome such vigorous discussion might produce. Fearful of consequences, many people are withholding their views on Israel – whether Israel has committed war crimes, for instance, or whether Israeli members of government should be sanctioned – because they fear being branded as antisemitic.

Many Americans are also biting their tongues when it comes to DEI, affirmative action and even whether political tolerance is essential for democracy.

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 8 hours ago

conservatives will immediately try to gaslight, or try to sealion the issue.

[–] arin@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

Can't call conservatives retards for their regressive actions that they regret. censorship sucks

[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not afraid of voicing my opinion, but what's the point? Everyone is firmly in their trenches, so at best you get approving nods, at worst you get an argument which is equal parts futile and frustrating.

The only times I mention it is when my opinion is across the grain. For example, whether to require voter ID is a hot topic, and in my opinion it's being discussed all wrong. Why is no one pointing out that everyone should be able to get a proper ID? That's the real problem we should solve. So much stuff other than voting requires ID, so life must suck if you don't have one. Let's fix that!

[–] bystander@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 hours ago

When we vote in Canada we always had to show ID. There are also many combinations of ways to prove your identity. Drivers license, a bill, student card, you can bring a friend that knows you and they vouch etc.

Identification is good, just need to allow more ways to identify yourself.

[–] teppa@piefed.ca 2 points 11 hours ago

Which party will push the larger deficit, the answer may surprise you. They will do nearly the same, and neither party supports things like universal healthcare.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 18 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

Yeah I don't tell people in my life I am a communist because that could get me sent to a camp in a few years. I am not getting reported to the fucking gestapo by someone I play DND with

[–] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 16 hours ago

Exactly. I'm in a deep red state and so many people around me are so brainwashed that it's useless to try to talk with them. They don't think or reflect. Just parrot the talking points no matter how stupid.

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

I'm a socialist the same.

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 26 points 20 hours ago

In the McCarthy era, whatever the average person said usually didn't make it past the actual people they said it to (and those people's gossip buddies, possibly) unless someone had an axe to grind and wanted to get them in trouble. Today, anything you say has circled the globe ten times, been indexed in multiple systems, and fed to someone's AI assistant before the hour is out. Yet another way in which technological change is a mixed bag.

[–] etherphon@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

I expressed myself, and my 14 year old account was banned almost instantly...

[–] gibmiser@lemmy.world 13 points 21 hours ago

America, land of the free.

Look in the mirror, it's a lie.