Political Censorship Feels Acceptable When Ideas Seem Harmful and False
People seem willing to censor disagreeable political and moral ideas. Five studies explore why people engage in political censorship and test a potential route to decreasing censorship. While Americans report being generally supportive of free speech and against censorship (Study 1), we find that people censor material that seems harmful and false (Study 2)—which are often ideas from political opponents (Study 3). Building on work demonstrating the perceived truth of experiences, we test an experience-sharing intervention that, among college students, decreases the perception that controversial campus speakers are sharing harmful and false ideas related to gun policy, thereby reducing students’ willingness to censor their ideas (Study 4). We also find benefits of experience sharing in the abortion debate—with Americans less willing to censor and report the social media posts of opponents who base their views on lived experiences rather than scientific findings (Study 5).