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More Filipino adults believe that printing or broadcasting “anything critical to the administration, even if it is the truth” is dangerous, according to the results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll conducted November 21-25 last year and published on the pollster’s website on Friday.
SWS found that 65 percent of 1,500 respondents nationwide agreed with the statement: “It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything that criticizes the administration, even if it is the truth.”
Sixteen percent disagreed and 18 percent were undecided, for a net agreement (percent agree minus percent disagree) of +49, which SWS classified as “strong.”
This is a sharp increase from the “moderate” +21 that a similar SWS survey found in July 2020.
But while more respondents believed that it was dangerous to publish something that criticized the administration, 65 percent of them agreed with the statement: “I can say what I want, openly and without fear, even if it is against the administration.”
Sixteen percent were undecided and 19 percent disagreed with that statement.
This gives “freedom of personal expression” a solid net agreement score of +46, up from a strong +41 in June 2019, when SWS last conducted a survey on that topic.
SWS used face-to-face interviews and sampling error margins of +/- 2.5 percent for national percentages; +/- 4 percent for Luzon outside of Metro Manila; and +/- 6 percent for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.
By area, educational level
The net agreement with the statement “It is dangerous to print or disseminate something critical of the administration even if it is the truth” emerged in all geographic areas and at almost all educational levels. It went from +28 to +58 in Mindanao, from +26 to +55 in Visayas, from +16 to +47 in Luzon outside of Metro Manila, and from +16 to +30 in Metro Manila.
In terms of educational levels, the net danger in publishing materials critical of the administration rose from a “neutral” +9 in July last year to a “very strong” +52 among college graduates, an increase of 43 points.
Among high school graduates, it rose from a moderate +21 to a strong +46, an increase of 25 points.
It increased by 28 points from a moderate +25 to a very strong +53 among elementary school graduates, and remained strong among elementary undergraduates, an increase of 5 points from +41 to +46.
Compared to June 2019, net freedom of personal expression increased in November last year from +47 to +59 in Visayas and from +32 to +55 in Mindanao. But it fell from +45 to +28 in Metro Manila and stayed at +42 in Luzon outside of Metro Manila.
Net freedom of personal expression remained strong at all educational levels since June 2019: it increased slightly from +45 to +47 among college graduates; stayed at +46 among high school graduates; increased by 12 points from +36 to +48 among primary school graduates; and increased by 7 points from +35 to +42 among non-elementary graduates.
On the six occasions that SWS conducted a survey on personal freedom of expression during the Duterte administration, it ranged from a moderate +23 to a strong +49. —QUEST RESEARCH
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