Forty-Five Percent of College Students Justify Violence to Stop ‘Hate Speech’: Survey › American Greatness– amgreatness.com

A new survey finds that nearly half of undergraduate students support censorship, shout-downs, and physical violence to suppress what they consider “hate speech” or offensive ideas.

Fox News reports that the 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey, released this month by the Buckley Institute, shows that 45 percent of undergraduate students surveyed believe physical violence can be justified to stop so-called hate speech. That number is up 6 points from 2025 and ties the all-time record set in 2023.

The survey, which polled 803 full-time undergraduate students at four-year public and private colleges across the United States, revealed several record-high metrics concerning free expression on campus, according to Yahoo.

A little over a year after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, 1 in 4 college students think “It should not be a surprise that his words had consequences.”

Our new survey found increasing undergrad comfort with violence and criminal prosecution for speech they don’t like. https://t.co/mxeoZ4up8Z

— Buckley Institute (@BuckleyInst) October 18, 2026