The Tech Media Minute: Zuckerberg Plays Defense as Apple Spends $1 Billion in China

Zuckerberg speaks

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg promises to meet with “leading conservatives” after word leaked that the social giant was stifling conservative viewpoints in its trending news section.

In a Thursday night blog post, the Facebook CEO noted:

“To serve our diverse community, we are committed to building a platform for all ideas. Trending Topics is designed to surface the most newsworthy and popular conversations on Facebook. We have rigorous guidelines that do not permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or the suppression of political perspectives.”

The fall continues

It hasn’t been a great year for Apple, at least on Wall Street.  On Thursday, shares of the company have dropped below $90 for the first time since 2014. Investor concerns seem to center on the upcoming “iPhone 7.”

As Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang told Reuters:

“People are getting negative data points about component orders and production forecasts, and the features on the new iPhone do not seem to be a big change from the 6S.”

The next iPhone is expected to launch in September. So far, the rumors suggest that the model will look a lot like the current ones.

Cupertino bets big on China

Apple is investing $1 billion in Didi, the Uber-like company based in China, according to Reuters.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook:

“We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market. Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well.”

Among the films now in theaters: “Money Monster,” “The Lobster,” and “Love & Friendship.”

It’s Demo Day in Mountain View, California.

Today is the only Friday the 13th of 2016. It’s also Blame Someone Else Day. If there are any typos in this column, I’ll blame my editors, thank you very much.

Twitter loves Friday and so do we. Here are the topics trending now:

• Friday the 13th
• #SBSEurovision
• #FridayFeeling
• #Friday13th
• 1.3% in April
• Bezos
• David Petraeus
• #fridayreads
• #FreeJeanetteJing
• #SOCIALCON

Have a few more minutes? Check out these other stories making news:

• Here’s Facebook’s guide to how its ‘Trending Topics’ tool works, Re/Code
• These 3D models likely show us exactly what the iPhone 7 will look like, BGR
• Fender cashes in its cool with consumer in-ear monitor headphones, TechCrunch

Want even more? Check our the new Tech Media Extra.