“Apple CEO Tim Cook has the second-highest approval rating of tech leaders, according to a new Morning Consult poll,” Fawn Johnson and Amir Nasr report for Morning Consult. “In the wake of a swirling conflict over whether the tech giant should help the Federal Bureau of Investigation open an iPhone in a pending criminal case, the publicity seems to be good for Cook.”
“While Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is still a relative rock star, with 48 percent of registered voters viewing him favorably, people also like Cook,” Johnson and Nasr report. “About four out of 10 respondents (39 percent) said they view the Apple leader favorably. Most of the rest (44 percent) said they hadn’t heard of him or have no opinion. The only other tech CEO with similar recognition and favorability is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with 38 percent of respondents saying they like him.”
“While the technology community is standing behind Apple’s intention to fight the FBI, Morning Consult’s poll shows that Americans think that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company should help the investigators break into the phone. They say this even with a full understanding of Cook’s reasons for bucking the request,” Johnson and Nasr report. “Just over half (51 percent) of registered voters say Apple should unlock the phone, while 33 percent say the company shouldn’t. Sixteen percent don’t know or care. Respondents were given a lengthy explanation of Apple’s concerns.”
“Most respondents have at least heard of the Apple controversy… 12 percent said they hadn’t heard much about the Apple controversy, and another 12 percent said they’d heard nothing about it,” Johnson and Nasr report. “As some other polls have suggested, education is still a very important aspect to this debate. Many in the technology community have argued that the public might not truly understand the case, and that’s why they support the FBI, and think Apple should unlock the phone. Morning Consult’s poll results showed the importance of the public gaining that understanding. The poll prompted respondents with extra information about the case to see if they would then be more or less likely to support Apple’s position. It showed that when respondents saw some of Apple’s arguments laid out before them, they grew more likely to support the tech giant’s position in the debate.”
“While voters agree with Apple that a committee should be formed, there’s one split between the two. Apple wants Congress to take charge of the committee, while Morning Consult poll respondents think agencies in the executive branch such as the FBI or Department of Justice should lead. About four out of 10 people (42 percent) think the committee should be under a federal agency. Just 17 percent think the committee should be run by Congress,” Johnson and Nasr report. “The poll was conducted among 1,935 registered voters on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: More U.S. registered voters want to hand the keys to the FBI or DOJ than to their own elected representatives? Sheesh.
More education required. Much more.
In related news: Idiocracy writer says satirical film about a dumbed-down America has become a “documentary.”
NSFW (depending on where you work):
SEE ALSO:
In Republican debate, candidates back U.S. government over Apple – February 26, 2016
Donald Trump calls for Apple boycott over San Bernardino terrorist iPhone encryption – February 19, 2016
Obama administration: We’re only demanding Apple hack just one iPhone – February 17, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook lashes out at Obama administration over encryption, bemoans White House lack of leadership – January 13, 2016
Obama administration wants access to smartphones – December 15, 2015
Hillary Clinton wants a ‘Manhattan Project’ to cure encryption; Snowden, Andreessen mock – December 21, 2015
Obama administration’s calls for backdoors into encrypted communications echo Clinton-era key escrow fiasco – December 14, 2015
Eric Schmidt-backed startup stealthily working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House – October 9, 2015
Obama administration war against Apple just got uglier – July 31, 2015
