Americans tolerate outlandish speech more readily than citizens of other countries, but in general people take a stand against certain categories of speech. A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 38 countries showed that most do not support speech advocating violent protest. Support is also low for sexually explicit speech and speech offensive to the religious. (Pew Research Center, November 18, 2015, by Jacob Poushter and Dionna Givens)
Majorities in most countries support speech that criticizes government policies. There is also strong support for the free press. Middle Eastern countries While Lebanon, Israel, Palestine show strong support, Jordan, Turkey are more guarded. When it comes to national security, though, a majority of people in 27 countries think the government should be allowed to stop the publication of sensitive issues on national security. (Pew Research Center, November 18, 2015, by Richard Wike and Katie Simmons)
Global support for free speech and press are similar. Fifty-six percent of people in the 38 nations think it is very important to allow speech without fear of government censorship and 55 percent think it is very important to allow the media to report without censorship. (Pew Research Center, November 18, 2015, by Richard Wike and Katie Simmons)