San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg fired back at US President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he accused the leading social network of being “always anti-Trump.” Zuckerberg rejected the notion, countering that Facebook is working to ensure “free and fair elections” with an online platform that …
Read More »Russia threatens to ban Facebook in 2018
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s internet watchdog on Tuesday warned Facebook it would be banned in 2018 unless it complies with a law on storing local users’ data. “The law is compulsory for all,” the head of Roskomnadzor telecoms watchdog Alexander Zharov told journalists in Moscow, quoted by Interfax news …
Read More »China disrupts WhatsApp ahead of Communist meeting
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese authorities appear to have severely disrupted the WhatsApp messaging app in the latest step to tighten censorship as they prepare for a major Communist Party congress next month. Users in China have reported widespread disruptions in recent days to the Facebook-owned service, which previously …
Read More »Airtel Uganda launches fastest 4G internet
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Airtel Uganda, Uganda’s second largest telecom firm has today launched its 4GLTE mobile telecommunications technology in the presence of Information and Communications Minister, Frank Tumwebaze and Uganda Communication Commission Director for Corporate Affairs, Fred Otunnu. Speaking at the launch in Kampala, the company’s Managing Director, …
Read More »Britain’s May says Trump visit still on despite terror tweets
Washington, United States | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted a long-awaited state visit by Donald Trump will go ahead as planned despite a diplomatic spat triggered by the US president’s comments after a terror attack in London. Speaking to ABC News from Downing Street in an interview …
Read More »World’s most wired cities have money, ideas and wide internet reach
Taipei, Taiwan | AFP | A few extra-keen cities in developed countries are using internet technology to cut energy bills, fight crime and ease traffic congestion. Now everyone else wants to know how they got so far. New York, Singapore, Taipei, Barcelona and London are regarded now as what techies call …
Read More »YouTube star PewDiePie in hot water again, over the N-word
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | YouTube’s most watched blogger PewDiePie was in hot water again on Monday after using a racial slur while playing a livestreamed video game, just a few months after losing contracts over anti-Semitic remarks. In a video clip available online since Sunday, the 27-year-old Swede, whose real …
Read More »29Rooms, the exhibition created for social media
New York, United States | AFP | Visitors are touching the art, wearing it and even jumping on it at the popular immersive exhibition “29Rooms” being held in a Brooklyn warehouse. Artists, companies and non-profits have come together for the interactive event hosted by the website Refinery29 which closes on …
Read More »Trial starts for US teen in internet bogeyman case
Chicago, United States | AFP | Jury selection began Monday in the trial of one of two US teens accused of stabbing a friend to appease a fictitious internet character, in a case that sparked a TV documentary. Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser — now 15, but 12 years old …
Read More »Mobile internet off in Togo before opposition protests
Lome, Togo | AFP | Mobile internet services were off in Togo on Thursday, where new opposition protests were planned after huge anti-government demonstrations across the country. On social media such as Facebook and Twitter, which were still accessible using intermittent Wi-Fi access in the capital, Lome, users called for …
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