The Effects of Target Characteristics on Public Support for Hate Speech Laws

Does the target of speech shape public support for hate speech laws? Regulating hate speech is controversial, partly because partisans are assumed to disagree over which groups such laws should protect. This article conducts a comprehensive test of how support for hate speech laws varies across partisan lines when speech targets ethnic, religious, gender, or political groups. Based on conjoint experiments in Denmark and the United States, the results show that support for regulation increases by up to 32% points when severity increases from “incivility” to “incitement to violence.” Target characteristics increase support for regulation by up to 6.3% points and exert the strongest effects when speech targets ethnic and religious groups rather than gender or political groups. These effects persist when severity is held constant and are broadly stable across severity levels. They are also heterogeneous across partisan groups, mostly ranging from 3 to 7.2% points, with one exception reaching 11.9% points. In neither country are partisans more willing to regulate hate speech targeting their political opponents than hate speech targeting their political allies. Overall, severity has the strongest effect on support for hate speech regulation, while target characteristics have smaller, heterogeneous effects that are largest when speech targets ethnic or religious groups.