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Social Media Should Censor Itself, Without Government Intervention, Most Americans Say

New polling from the firm Ipsos finds that most Americans worry about bad behavior on social media, and want companies to act.

Social media is getting under our skin, and new polling data shows that Americans want tech companies to fix it.

Surveys released by polling firm Ipsos on Monday show that a majority of Americans support content moderation on social networks, including putting warning labels on misinformation, deleting incitements to violence and suspending or banning offending accounts. Only 19% of Americans believe tech companies should do nothing and allow incitements to violence to be posted. Even fewer people, just 17%, believe social media companies should do nothing and allow posts containing misinformation or bullying.

«Basically, public opinion is giving license to tech companies to curate themselves,» said Cliff Young, president of US Public Affairs at Ipsos. He added that another Ipsos poll found that Americans don’t support government intervention with social media content. «What we see across the board is support for self-action» by tech companies, he said.

The Ipsos data, based on about 200 questions asked in eight polls over the past year and made available to the wider public Monday, offers an unusually clear indication of what Americans want social media companies to do about bad behavior on their platforms.

For much of the last decade, politicians, tech executives and people using the internet have argued about how much social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google’s YouTube and TikTok should moderate their platforms. Companies that track hate groups say the companies aren’t aggressively pulling down enough posts, while many politicians, including former President Donald Trump, say tech companies have gone too far.

In some cases, conservative politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have signed new laws aimed at punishing social media companies for «wrongful censorship» on their platforms. Though many of those efforts have struggled amid constitutional arguments in the courts, some of the loudest voices in American politics have made clear they believe big tech companies shouldn’t moderate potentially hateful, bullying or incendiary political speech.

Shortly after the US Capitol riots on Jan. 6 last year, tech companies including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube removed Trump and some of his most vocal advocates from their platforms. They cited concerns that Trump’s months long campaign of bullying, threats and lies about his election loss had sparked the carnage that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Trump has since released many statements denying his culpability, arguing instead that tech companies had acted wrongly. Trump’s actions related to the Jan. 6 riot led to his second impeachment by the US House of Representatives, and they’re a focal point for a bipartisan congressional commission investigating the event.

Young, at Ipsos, said the Capitol riots were a key moment when many Americans began to reexamine social media’s role in their lives.

Indeed, older polls from the Pew Research Center showed that before the 2020 election and 2021 riot, Americans were much more split about how to treat tech. A 2019 study by Pew found that 77% of Democrats thought social mediacompanies «have a responsibility to remove offensive content from theirplatforms.» By comparison, about 52% of Republicans had the sameview back then.

Fast-forward to 2021, when Ipsos polling performed in the months after the Capitol riots indicated that more Americans in both parties want tech companies to curb bad behavior online. «This was an inflection point for decision makers wanting to better understand the relationship between society and tech,» Young said.

Nuanced but similar views

Tech companies are among the most profitable, most valuable and most powerful businesses in the world. They’re also front of mind for many Americans, who rate disinformation, conspiracy theories, social media-driven radicalization and hacking above other big issues, like racism and the climate crisis. More than 79% of respondents to one Ipsos poll, in September, said they were concerned with at least one of those tech issues, roughly tying with «crime and public safety» and «the economy and jobs.»

Ipsos data also found that Republicans, Democrats and independents largely agreed on the importance of these issues, with hacking, malware and data breaches scoring among the top three concerns from all three groups.

Additionally, Ipsos surveys found that Americans largely understand the difference between social media companies and other tech giants, with 88% saying search engines and the ability to find things on the internet improved their lives, while only 45% felt the same about social media. When discussing specific companies, respondents saying they’re Republican or independent overall had a negative view of Facebook and Twitter, while less than 15% of Democrats viewed either company favorably. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple were all viewed more favorably, Ipsos data showed.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

  • July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
  • August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.

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Technologies

The AI Chatbots We Use Most, and How We Use Them

91% of AI users have a default artificial intelligence assistant they turn to for their AI tasks, a Menlo Ventures report has found.

If you have a particular artificial intelligence tool that you tend to try first every time you’re in need of an AI assist, you’re not alone. According to a new survey, 91% of people who use AI have a favorite chatbot they try first, whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Alexa or something else.

A Menlo Ventures survey of 5,000 adults found that this «default tool dynamic» means most people using AI have chosen a general AI tool they’ll try first for every job, even if it’s not necessarily the best tool for the job.

In the report, ChatGPT is the AI assistant that tops default tools, with 28% of respondents choosing it first. It’s followed by Google’s Gemini at 23%, Meta AI and Amazon’s Alexa, both at 18% and Apple’s Siri at 16%. Other tools including Claude, Grok and Perplexity collectively make up another 33%.

Some of the most common ways people are using these AI tools include composing emails and other writing support, researching topics of interest and managing to-do lists, according to Menlo Ventures.

Some of that, Menlo Ventures says, is «first-mover advantage,» with tools like ChatGPT having built up a following by being the first to offer some chatbot and image-generation features. But, the company warns, «that position is not guaranteed,» with challengers moving fast.

«The consumer market for [large language models] is still nascent and far from saturated,» the report says, «leaving ample room for product innovation to shift market share over time.»

Overall, 61% of Americans have used AI in the last six months and nearly 1 in 5, 19%, rely on it daily, the report says.

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Technologies

This Early Prime Day Deal Lets You Grab AirPods 4 At Their Lowest Price Yet

Apple’s AirPods 4 have dropped to their lowest price of 2025 — but this early Prime Day deal won’t last long.

Prime Day is still a few sunsets away, but Amazon isn’t waiting around. The retailer has already started slashing prices across tons of popular products, including the much-loved AirPods 4 (ANC).

For a limited time, you can snag these for 2025’s best price of just $149. This saves you $30, and you don’t even have to enter any codes or clip any coupons. The catch? We can’t promise that this deal will stick around for much longer.

This is the latest generation of Apple’s earbuds. The Apple AirPods 4 have the same H2 chip found in the AirPods Pro 2, so you can expect great sound quality. They also rock a more compact design with this new generation and offer excellent voice-calling performance. Plus, Spatial Audio support adds a touch of personalization.

Note that this deal is for the ANC (active noise cancellation) model of these earbuds. It comes with a wireless charging case and a speaker that can help you find them using Apple’s Find My tracking service.  

«With a slightly smaller design, improved sound and Apple’s powerful H2 chip features, the Apple AirPods 4 are a worthy upgrade,» said CNET audio expert David Carnoy in his AirPods 4 review. «But what really makes them special is the noise canceling in the step-up ANC model.»

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

What’s the competition like? You can find out by reading through the best early Prime Day deals on headphones and speakers, where we’ve rounded up all the latest and greatest prices from the likes of Apple, Sony, Beats and many more big names. Just be sure to get your orders in before the deals expire.

Why this deal matters

Apple products rarely go on sale, and when they do, the stock tends to run out before the deal window closes. Combine that with AirPods 4 being Apple’s latest AirPods and this discount being the year’s all-time low price — you have a nice offer in your hands.

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