20% think there should not be freedom to express opinions against government: survey

A nationwide survey by the Centre for Developing Societies (CSDS) found that 20% of the respondents disagree with the idea that people should have complete freedom to disagree against the government on social media. Many do not think that people should be free to express their views against the government or ideas that are "offensive".

Only 11% said they are in complete agreement with the idea and 16% somewhat agreed with the idea. Another 16% somewhat disagreed with the idea.

The media consumption behaviour survey also found that 14% somewhat disagreed with the idea of speaking up against "offensive" ideas. 26% fully disagreed with the statement. 9% of the 7,463 respondents said they are in complete favour of the idea and 15% said they somewhat agree with it, reported The Indian Express.

When asked about the government shutdown of internet services, 16% said it is right to do so on the grounds of security. 15% said it is fully right and 12% said it is somewhat right. 10% said it is somewhat wrong and 39% said they have no opinion on the matter.

Similarly, when asked about the government regulating social media content, 39% said they have no opinion on the matter. 21% said it is fully wrong and 12% said it is somewhat wrong. 11% said it is somewhat right and 9% said it is fully right. 8% said it is right if done on the grounds of security.

The survey also asked about the preferred mode of receiving news and found that newspapers and Doordarshan are the most trusted sources. However, TV is the most used source of information. Two-fifth of the respondents said they browse news and current affairs websites.