What Americans Say is Behind Political Violence

A majority of Americans blame artificial intelligence-generated misinformation and political leaders’ failure to condemn violent language from their supporters for the political violence in society, the Public Religion Research Institute found in a new survey.

Sixty-seven percent of Americans said politicians’ reticence to criticize violent rhetoric from their supporters “contributes a lot to violent actions in society,” while 64 percent blame false or misleading information generated by AI that spreads on social media, the survey released Friday showed. Sixty-one percent said public displays of hate — such as Nazi symbols — play a role. Roughly half blame violent rhetoric itself; an equal share blame easy access to guns.

“This is telling us that Americans would like political leaders to step up and to condemn violence when it’s happening,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.