Freedom of speech and hate speech – law and attitudes of Poles. An empirical study

Objective: reconstruction of attitudes of Poles towards selected restrictions on freedom of speech and also towards hate speech in Polish law (selected issues). Methods: the approach to data collection included a computer-assisted telephone survey on a sample of N=1,000 adult Poles (18+) and an analysis using descriptive statistics and selected inductive statistics techniques (covariance measures and cluster analysis). Results: an analysis of the aggregate and sub-dimensions of Poles’ attitudes toward selected limits of freedom of speech in the Polish legal system and Poles’ experiences of actions considered violations of freedom of speech was conducted. Groups with different attitudes toward these phenomena and, as a result, different susceptibility to political messages of attempts to limit freedom of speech were identified. Conclusions: Poles value freedom of speech, although – in a sense – they want to limit it; They recognise that it is essential for democracy, but at the same time they do not believe that they can use it properly and, above all, effectively. We observe the paradox of support for freedom of speech or, in another convention, symptoms of ‘flight from freedom’.