Too scared to share? Fear of social sanctions for political expression on social media

Abstract While social media provide opportunities for political expression, many people may be reluctant to share their opinions if they fear personal or professional repercussions for posting political views. Fear of social sanctions (FOSSs) therefore represents a promising approach to investigate why people often avoid expressing political opinions online. Using panel survey data collected during the 2020 U.S. election, this study examines the predictors of FOSSs, as well as its relationship with several forms of online political expression. Results indicate that the ideological diversity of people’s online networks fosters their FOSSs, which in turn is associated with decreases in several types of online political expression. Thus, FOSSs may be an important determinant in individuals’ calculations to express political opinions online and may also hinder lower commitment forms of political engagement. Lay Summary Social media allow people to publicly express their political views, but many say they do not take advantage of this opportunity because they are afraid that sharing their political opinions online could lead to negative consequences in their personal or professional lives, such as damaging their relationships with friends and family or jeopardizing their job. This study has two goals. First, we examine whether characteristics of people’s social media environments impact their fears about sharing their political views online. Second, we test whether fears about the social and professional consequences of sharing political views online actually make it less likely that people express their political opinions on social media. We find that people who have more politically diverse social media environments are more fearful of sharing their political views online. We also find that people who are more afraid of the social and professional consequences of sharing their political views on social media often engage in self-censorship, becoming less likely to share news or their political opinions online, including liking or commenting on political posts made by others. This suggests that fears about the negative consequences of sharing political views on social media can limit political expression online.