Following recent government pressure to remove Jimmy Kimmel from his ABC late-night show over his politically charged remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Boston University’s Communication Research Center (CRC) conducted a nationwide survey to gauge Americans’ views on government censorship and the First Amendment.
The survey revealed a clear majority (74%) supports First Amendment protections shielding private media from government censorship, except in extreme cases like inciting violence. Conversely, only 19% agree the federal government should threaten media companies with legal consequences over content.
To better understand these findings, I turned to two CRC experts: Dr. Deborah L. Jaramillo, Professor of Film and Television and director of the Film and Television Studies Program at the College of Communication (COM), and Dr. Morgan Weiland, Assistant Professor of Communication Law in COM’s Department of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations.
Morgan, you noted that these survey findings suggest that FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s recent warnings to ABC regarding Jimmy Kimmel’s comments—actions you described as jawboning or what other experts term ‘censorship by proxy,’ where the government pressures private entities to restrict speech—are likely unpopular not just with the general American public, but also among Republicans. Could you expand on this? Why is this happening despite its unpopularity, and what can the public do?
Weiland: The Trump administration’s moves with respect to the press are not surprising. Many of them were spelled out in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s document that appears to inform the Trump administration’s actions. Consider that before he was FCC Commissioner, Brendan Carr wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC.
To the extent that the administration’s policy changes and attacks on the press cut against First Amendment principles, our survey suggests that they would be unpopular across the political spectrum. Majorities of survey respondents told us that they oppose government censorship and support content neutrality, both of which are core normative and — at least for now — doctrinal First Amendment free speech principles.
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