Does Valuing Free Speech Affect Norms of Tolerance? Evidence From Individual Preferences

ABSTRACT Amid intensifying global debates over balancing free speech with protections against hate speech, this paper investigates whether individuals who value free speech exhibit greater racial tolerance. Unlike prior studies focusing on the institutional effects of free speech, this paper examines whether individuals who prioritize free speech hold more racially tolerant attitudes. Using individual‐level data from the Integrated Values Survey, individuals who prioritize free speech are found to be 2.3 percentage points more likely to hold racially tolerant attitudes, with a standardized effect of 2.65%. This association is robust to alternative fixed effects structures and clustering approaches and persists after conditioning on a broad range of individual‐level controls. Results are corroborated using Afrobarometer data across 33 African countries. These findings are consistent with multiple theoretical mechanisms linking free speech values to tolerance, including persuasive communication and counterspeech, support for an independent media, and a broader culture of tolerance rooted in Enlightenment liberal norms. Overall, the results suggest that the social costs of restricting free expression extend to broader effects on tolerance.