Almost half of Filipinos believe that it is "dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration even if it is the truth," based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Monday, Oct. 4.
The non-commissioned survey, which was conducted from June 23 to 26, asked 1,200 respondents if they agree or disagree with the statement: "It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth."
SWS found 45 percent who agreed (17 percent strongly agreed, 29 percent somewhat agreed, correctly rounded), 28 percent undecided, and 25 percent disagreed (13 percent somewhat disagreed, 12 percent strongly disagreed).
This translated to a "moderate" net agreement score (percentage of those who agreed minus the percentage of those who disagreed) of +20.
"This is similar to the moderate +18 (42 percent agree, 25 percent disagree, correctly rounded) in May 2021, following an 18-point decline from the very strong +49 in November 2020," SWS pointed out.
However, the net agreement with the statement significantly increased in Metro Manila and Mindanao.
It was highest in Metro Manila (+28), followed by the Visayas (+22), Balance Luzon (+21), and Mindanao (+12).
"Compared to May 2021, net agreement rose from neutral to moderate in Mindanao, up from -2 (31 percent agree, 32 percent disagree) to +12 (41 percent agree, 29 percent disagree)," SWS said.
"It stayed moderate in Metro Manila, although up from +13 (44 percent agree, 32 percent disagree, correctly rounded) to +28 (51 percent agree, 23 percent disagree)," it added.
Meanwhile, it stayed moderate in the Visayas, although up from +20 (44 percent agree, 24 percent disagree) to +22 (46 percent agree, 25 percent disagree, correctly rounded).
It also stayed moderate in Balance Luzon, although down from +28 (47 percent agree, 19 percent disagree) to +21 (45 percent agree, 24 percent disagree).
By educational level, net agreement with the statement: "It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth," was higher among college graduates (+37) than among junior high school graduates (+17), elementary graduates (+19), and non-elementary graduates (+14).