Surveys reveal rising student and faculty concern about censorship, self-censorship post-October 7

In a year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict went from barely a blip on most students’ radars to an almost all-consuming concern. Findings from FIRE’s forthcoming 2025 College Free Speech Rankings survey reveal that far more students this year than last year worry about censorship and self-censorship related to the war in Gaza.

As of May 2, FIRE analyzed almost 1,900 open-ended responses from university students nationwide for this year’s CFSR survey. The survey asked students who reported self-censoring at least once or twice a month, “Please share a moment where you personally felt you could not express your opinion on your campus because of how you thought other students, a professor, or the administration would respond.” In almost 9 in 10 responses, students explicitly stated concerns about censorship when discussing Israel, Palestine, and/or Gaza with friends, classmates, and/or professors. Students also overwhelmingly reported witnessing or experiencing censorship and/or self-censorship when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

One student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote that the university’s administration “threatened to suspend students over protesting the Israeli genocide of Palestine.” 

In almost 9 in 10 responses, students explicitly stated concerns about censorship when discussing Israel, Palestine, and/or Gaza with friends, classmates, and/or professors.

Another at Emory University reported that “according to other upperclassmen, my school has recently started tracking people’s data to see if they have attended any protest going on in campus, in regards to the Palestine-Israel conflict.”

A third at Yale University wrote, “I think it is other students, rather than professors, that I am concerned about. Most professors here are quite tolerant, the students less so. I generally withhold controversial takes (or takes that most of the class would disagree with) as it makes it easier for me (e.g. anything on Israel-Palestine).”

This contrasts with the open-ended responses FIRE obtained in last year’s CFSR survey, conducted between January 13 and June 30, 2023. A preliminary analysis of the open-ended responses from that survey shows fewer than 400 mentions of Israel, Palestine, and/or Gaza out of approximately 25,000 open-ended student responses. That’s only about 2% of all responses. 

The University of Maryland’s recent Middle East Scholars Barometer survey reveals that faculty are also feeling the pressure. 

According to the 2024 barometer survey, since the war in Gaza began on October 7, both students and Middle East scholars experienced higher levels of censorship than they did before the war began, with scholars facing pressure from external advocacy groups and administrators and students facing pressure from peers and the administration. 

Political science professor Marc Lynch and government and politics professor Shibley Telhami recently published an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education on the dangers that scholars and students face when studying and discussing the ongoing conflict in Gaza. 

The professors highlight what is arguably one of the most unsettling findings of the survey: 

71 percent of U.S.-based scholars of the Middle East say that the challenges they have faced following October 7 are either the worst (26 percent) or among the worst (45 percent) challenges imposed by political events in their academic careers.

The barometer survey results further reveal that 76% of U.S.-based scholars of the Middle East have felt a greater direct or indirect need to self-censor since the start of the war. And 69% reported self-censoring on topics involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (By contrast, in 2023’s barometer survey, conducted only a little more than a month after October 7, that percentage was 57%.) 

Even before October 7, FIRE reported faculty members were self-censoring more than they did during the McCarthy era. The barometer survey’s findings suggest that conditions for free speech on campus are deteriorating even further.

REPORT: Faculty members more likely to self-censor today than during McCarthy era

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So why are students and faculty afraid to speak out? Maybe because some believe their views aren’t welcome on campus. According to the barometer survey, 69% of U.S.-based Middle East scholars support the encampment protests on campus and the main goals of the protesters, but 61% reported that their administration opposes the protests. Only 4% reported that their administration supports the protests. 

These scholars may be self-censoring to avoid punishment by their administrations — as some students were for engaging in protest activities. 

Notably, the First Amendment does not bar colleges and universities imposing content-neutral restrictions on encampments and addressing unprotected speech, such as true threats or discriminatory harassment. However, FIRE has also seen heavy-handed crackdowns on peaceful political protests that could reasonably give students and scholars pause before exercising their free speech rights.

Not helping matters is the fact that 74% of U.S.-based Middle East scholars reported that President Biden’s response to campus protests has had a negative impact on advancing free speech on campus. This perception is likely to only contribute to self-censorship.

Censorship and self-censorship, whether they’re driven by administrators, peers, or politicians, is detrimental to the quality of American education. Students and scholars must be willing to express their ideas, debate controversial issues, and research complex topics if colleges and universities are to effectively examine and disseminate knowledge. 

For that to happen, speech-chilling actions from those in power must cease, and those afraid of speaking up must familiarize themselves with their rights to free speech and academic freedom.