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1 big thing: How Anker found billions in batteries and chargers

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1 big thing: Khan's risky move on Meta

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2. Exclusive: 2 Peterson videos demonetized

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1 big thing: Tech in crossfire as states fight over abortion info

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2. Broadband growth slows to pre-pandemic levels

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Apple on Thursday reported quarterly results that were slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations despite having to grapple with both supply chain and production challenges.

Why it matters: Apple's report comes as many of its tech peers reported weaker results, including semiconductor bellwether Intel, whose results and outlook disappointed analysts and investors.

Revenue : $83 billion (up 2 percent from a year earlier)

Per-share earnings: $1.20 (down from $1.31 a year earlier)

iPhone sales: $40.7 billion (up from $39.6 billion a year earlier)

Mac revenue: $7.4 billion (down from $8.2 billion a year earlier)

iPad revenue: $7.2 billion (down from $7.4 billion a year earlier)

Wearables and accessories: $8.1 billion (down from $8.8 billion a year earlier)

Services: $19.6 billion (up from $17.5 billion a year earlier)

As for the geographic breakdown, sales in Japan and greater China were down from a year earlier, while sales increased in the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific. On a conference call, CEO Tim Cook said sales were particularly strong in a number of developing markets including, Indonesia, India, Brazil and Vietnam.

Flashback: Apple had warned in April that a combination of component shortages and COVID 19-related production issues would dent quarterly revenue by $4 billion to $8 billion. Cook said the impact ended up being slightly less than even the lower end of that range.

What they're saying:  “Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively despite the challenging operating environment," Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in a statement.

Cook told analysts that iPhone sales didn't appear to be dented by macroeconomic conditions, but its sales of some wearables and accessories were impacted, as were some categories of services, including digital advertising. "Overall, we're very happy with the results," Cook said.

What's next: The company did not give specific revenue guidance for the current quarter, which runs through the end of September. However, Maestri said Apple expects its year-over-year revenue growth to be higher than the 2 percent growth for the June quarter. 

That's despite an expected slowing of growth in its services business as well as a negative impact from foreign exchange rates.

On the other hand, Apple said it expects supply constraints to be less than they were in the prior quarter.

Cook said Apple will continue to hire in key areas, but noted: "We are being more deliberate in doing so."

Apple revenue and earnings top expectations

The iPhone maker's results come as other tech companies have posted disappointing numbers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at a September 2021 event

Apple

Apple on Thursday reported quarterly results that were slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations despite having to grapple with both supply chain and production challenges.Why it matters: Apple&#x27;s report comes as many of its tech peers reported weaker results, including semiconductor bellwether Intel, whose results and outlook disappointed analysts and investors.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

With reproductive rights in flux across the U.S., activists on both sides of the issue are using the uncertainty to pressure tech companies to change the way abortion information gets shared and labeled.

The big picture: The absence of a nationwide law means that companies will likely have to interpret a patchwork of competing state rules — as they already do with privacy and other tech issues.

Platforms now face the likelihood of being told by one state to prohibit information that another state requires them to distribute.

What they're saying: "We may be on the verge of a digital civil war, where one group of states has rules on online speech that conflict with rules in another group of states," says Matt Perault, director of the Center on Technology Policy at the University of North Carolina, who is also a consultant on tech policy issues and a former Meta employee. 

Driving the news: Pressure on tech platforms to tighten controls on abortion information comes from both sides of the issue.

Pro-abortion activists and politicians want platforms to more clearly label crisis pregnancy centers — which typically tell abortion-seeking patients to seek alternatives — to differentiate then from actual abortion clinics. 

A group of Democratic lawmakers has proposed legislation to crack down on what they say is medical disinformation used by crisis pregnancy centers to show up when people search for abortion information. Meanwhile, a group of conservative attorneys general have sent a letter to Google demanding that crisis pregnancy center information not be limited.

Abortion opponents are pushing for state laws that would criminalize not just helping facilitate an abortion but also providing information on how to perform an abortion or where to get one. 

A draft bill in South Carolina, based on model legislation from the National Right To Life Committee, would criminalize providing abortion information if the entity doing so knows the information "will be used, or is reasonably likely to be used for an abortion."

Tech platforms are already coming under fire for the ways in which they are restricting abortion information, especially discussions of abortion medication.

The big picture: With the country increasingly fractured and polarized over abortion, tech platforms have emerged as a key battleground, in some cases as pivotal as courts and legislatures.

"We should be as concerned about what’s happening with tech and abortion information as with what is happening with the laws," Erin Matson, co-founder and executive director for abortion rights group Reproaction, told Axios. 

Abortion opponents have been similarly focused on the issue, pushing for states that outlaw abortion to adopt language similar to that proposed in South Carolina.

The First Amendment narrows the degree to which the government can regulate speech. Tech platforms, by contrast, have wide latitude to highlight or remove content, and advocates from all sides are pushing them to use that discretion. 

"We’re doing a lot of information-based things because it's the most valuable thing we can be doing at the moment," says Kat Green, managing director of Abortion Access Front.

Here's the state of play on key platforms:

Google: Google-owned YouTube announced tighter rules on abortion-related content last month. 

The new rules target information coming from both sides. They prohibit videos that "promote or provide instructions" for unsafe or alternative abortion methods not supported by science or approved by medical professionals.

They also prohibit false claims about abortion, such as that it commonly causes infertility or cancer. 

Meta: Critics say Facebook has at times gone overboard in limiting posts on abortion medication, in some cases temporarily banning hashtags that use the name of a medication that can cause abortion. 

Facebook says it is using its standard policy with regard to medication, in which discussion of a medication and its affordability or availability are allowed, but not the sale, gifting or transfer of medication. 

The company sometimes blocks hashtags associated with a high level of rule-breaking content, but Meta has acknowledged "instances of incorrect enforcement" of its policies. 

Even before the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe, abortion rights advocates said Facebook was allowing medical misinformation to flourish while censoring accurate information, as Rep. Jerry Nadler outlined in a February letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Yelp: Although Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has been a vocal supporter of abortion rights, the site has also taken action against "review bombing" of crisis pregnancy centers by abortion rights advocates.

The company says it will continue to enforce one of its core policies: that people can only review entities they have personally received services from. 

At the same time, the company tells Axios it is continuing to work on ways to provide consumers with reliable information about reproductive healthcare providers that offer abortion services as well as crisis pregnancy centers that steer people to other options.

Of note: Perault largely predicted the platforms' quandary in a piece he co-authored for Slate in May, after the draft decision was leaked.

"Platforms will be caught in the middle, trying to mediate a culture war with immense consequences for human welfare, while making decisions that please almost no one and anger both Democrats and Republicans," he wrote. 

Go deeper: Today's abortion fights are also opening up new fronts in online .struggles over personal information and privacy.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to fix an organization's name to Abortion Access Front (from Action Front).

States' fight over abortion information catches tech in crossfire

Both sides aim to shape what kind of online information about abortion users can access.

Abortion

How Anker found billions in batteries and chargers

How a new tech accessory brand filled a niche and built a reputation.

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Courtesy of Anker

Smartphones

Column / Signal Boost

Steven Yang left his job as a software engineer writing algorithms at Google in 2011 to solve what he saw as a product gap: the lack of inexpensive, high-quality laptop batteries and chargers. A decade later, the company he started — Anker — has become a multibillion-dollar business.The big picture: Though many people recognize Anker as a significant name in the world of charging cords and battery packs, few realize just how large a company Yang has created.

Tech giants that have often sailed above the economy's turmoil can't escape the current downturn's pain, as this week's earnings reports from the sector's key companies illustrated.

Why it matters: Even as other industries struggled during the pandemic, tech prospered because so much of the economy shifted online. Now they are preparing to take a direct hit.

Google, Snap, Twitter and Facebook parent Meta all warned in various ways about a sharper than anticipated slowdown in online advertising.

PC chip giant Intel on Thursday posted disappointing numbers, though its troubles are exacerbated by its own execution problems above and beyond a slowdown in PC sales.

Amazon, which also reported results on Thursday, saw sales growth flatten, with online sales actually down year-over-year.

Apple, meanwhile, fared somewhat better in results posted yesterday.

The company, which in April had forecasted component shortages and production issues would dent quarterly revenue by $4 billion to $8 billion, saw a somewhat milder impact, and iPhone sales remained strong. 

Yes, but: Even Apple took some hits from the broader economic slowdown, including an impact on revenue from wearables and services. 

Apple said it sees the growth of its services business continuing to slow, even as it projects the company's overall revenue will grow faster in the current quarter.

The big picture: Tech companies are hitting the brakes, especially when it comes to hiring. Just a few months ago their biggest challenge was finding enough qualified people to fill open jobs. 

While most large companies have stopped short of a full-on hiring freeze, nearly all have said they expect headcount growth to slow. 

Even Apple plans to slow its hiring pace. CEO Tim Cook told analysts Apple will continue to hire in key areas, but noted, "We are being more deliberate in doing so."

Many startups, meanwhile, are weighing or implementing layoffs in anticipation of a funding drought.

Between the lines: Companies are facing a long list of challenges, from lingering supply chain bottlenecks to inflation to foreign exchange costs.

Be smart: Just planning for a possible economic slowdown can make the slowdown happen.

As companies cut their own advertising budgets and try to do more with less, the rest of the economy feels the bite.

Our thought bubble: No one is happy in this kind of business climate, but the markets appear to be relieved that most of the tech giants avoided big negative surprises. 

Also, downturns tend to be good for big companies in the long term, as they are able to use their giant hoards of cash get to keep investing in new products and growth while others are fighting for their lives. 

Typically these are also good times to make acquisitions, though that could prove tougher for the large tech companies amid greater antitrust scrutiny.

Tech companies hit the brakes as slowdown looms

Some are faring better than others, but all expect to take some hits.

crystal ball with graph arrow going up and then down

Big Tech

Tech giants that have often sailed above the economy&#x27;s turmoil can&#x27;t escape the current downturn&#x27;s pain, as this week&#x27;s earnings reports from the sector&#x27;s key companies illustrated.Why it matters: Even as other industries struggled during the pandemic, tech prospered because so much of the economy shifted online. Now they are preparing to take a direct hit.

YouTube has quietly stopped serving ads for a pair of videos that feature controversy-stirring Canadian professor Jordan Peterson deliberately misgendering actor Elliot Page and likening gender-affirming care for transgender people to Nazi-era medical experimentation.

Why it matters: The move is likely to anger Peterson's online supporters, who say the platform should not interfere with his speech at all — but it also won't satisfy his critics, who believe his words amount to prohibited speech that should be removed. 

In late June Twitter forced Peterson to delete tweets misgendering Page. The service has a policy that prohibits targeted misgendering and deadnaming as a form of harassment of transgender people.

Peterson then posted a 15-minute YouTube video attacking Twitter and its policies. The video repeatedly misnamed and misgendered Page, while also railing against gender-affirming healthcare and calling transgender identity "a viciously harmful fad." 

A second Peterson video declares gender-affirming care — endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and many other professional groups  — as flatly wrong. "It's not just wrong," he says. "It's Auschwitz and Gulag-level wrong. It's Nazi medical experiment-level wrong." 

YouTube demonetized both videos in recent weeks, meaning neither the platform nor Peterson will be able to earn income directly from ads on them. (The first video has more than 3 million views, and the second has topped 500,000 views.) However, YouTube left the videos up and continues to serve ads on Peterson's other videos.

What they're saying: "We set a high bar for what videos can make money on YouTube," YouTube told Axios in response to an inquiry. "Many videos that are allowed on YouTube are not eligible to monetize because they do not meet our ad-friendly guidelines."  Peterson's two videos "violate our advertising policies around hateful and derogatory content, and have been demonetized."

Between the lines: While YouTube also has a hate speech policy and a harassment policy that can lead to videos being removed, a wide range of anti-transgender content is allowed to remain online. 

YouTube, for example, says in its policy that it prohibit content that features "prolonged name calling or malicious insults based on intrinsic attributes, including sexual orientation or gender identity." 

However, it doesn't view deliberately misgendering someone, even repeatedly, as a violation of that rule.

YouTube has said it has been actively looking at this policy in recent months, but acknowledges that no changes have been made.

Peterson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The big picture: Social media policy on these questions has taken on added importance as transgender rights have become a central point of focus for U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted a pair of tweets last month attacking and misgendering Adm. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the highest ranking transgender person in the Biden Administration. 

Twitter flagged the tweets for violating its rules, but allowed both to remain on the service based on a practice of often labeling — but not removing — tweets from elected officials that would otherwise violate its terms of service.

A recent GLAAD report highlighted the link between discussions on social media and the ideas and language finding their way into anti-trans legislation. The same report gave failing marks to all of the major social media networks for keeping their users safe.

“In demonetizing these two videos, YouTube is confirming that Jordan Peterson’s hate-driven anti-trans rhetoric is in violation of the platform’s community guidelines,” a GLAAD spokesperson told Axios. 

However, the organization says, YouTube should have taken the videos down entirely. "It is shameful that these videos remain active, with millions of views, continuing to perpetuate hateful and false narratives at the expense of trans people everywhere.” 

Be smart: Activists on all sides know the limits of each service's policies. Those on the left are pushing for stricter rules on hate speech and tighter enforcement of policies already in place. Meanwhile, many on the right actively flout the existing rules, using any punitive action as an opportunity to argue to their supporters that they are being "canceled."

While the specter of demonetization can help dissuade some from breaking YouTube's rules, critics say YouTube is far too reliant on the technique. They note that controversial content creators can use demonetized videos to drive traffic to other videos that do host ads, as well as to merchandise, Patreon feeds and other revenue sources.

Exclusive: YouTube has demonetized two Jordan Peterson videos

The videos misgender actor Elliot Page and liken gender-affirming care to Nazi-era medical experimentation.

A photo of Jordan Peterson sitting in a chair

Peterson. Photo: Chris Williamson/Getty Images

YouTube

YouTube has quietly stopped serving ads for a pair of videos that feature controversy-stirring Canadian professor Jordan Peterson deliberately misgendering actor Elliot Page and likening gender-affirming care for transgender people to Nazi-era medical experimentation.Why it matters: The move is likely to anger Peterson&#x27;s online supporters, who say the platform should not interfere with his speech at all — but it also won&#x27;t satisfy his critics, who believe his words amount to prohibited speech that should be removed.

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How Anker found billions in batteries and chargers

States' fight over abortion information catches tech in crossfire

Exclusive: YouTube has demonetized two Jordan Peterson videos

Tech companies hit the brakes as slowdown looms

Apple revenue and earnings top expectations

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