Angolan president demands curbs on social media

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos called on Friday for a crackdown on social media, heightening concerns about the tolerance of dissent or political opposition in Africa's number two oil producer. In a surprise television address, dos Santos, who has run the former Portuguese colony since 1979, said websites such as Facebook were useful for disseminating information but were being abused to publish “derogatory and morally offensive content”

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Hootsuite says could go public sooner after Shopify IPO success

By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp VANCOUVER/TORONTO (Reuters) – The successful initial public offering of Shopify could prompt Hootsuite, another promising Canadian tech startup, to tap public markets sooner rather than later, its chief executive said on Thursday. Ottawa-based Shopify’s shares rose as much as 69 percent in the e-commerce software maker’s U.S. debut on Thursday, giving it a $2 billion-plus valuation.

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Russia warns Google, Twitter and Facebook on law violations

By Maria Tsvetkova and Eric Auchard MOSCOW/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Russia's media watchdog has written to Google, Twitter and Facebook warning them against violating Russian Internet laws and a spokesman said on Thursday they risk being blocked if they do not comply with the rules. Roskomnadzor said it had sent letters this week to the three U.S.-based Internet firms asking them to comply with Internet laws which critics of President Vladimir Putin have decried as censorship.      “In our letters we regularly remind (companies) of the consequences of violating the legislation,” said Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky.     He added that, because of the encryption technology used by the three firms, Russia had no way of blocking specific websites and so could only bring down particular content it deemed in violation of law by blocking access to their whole services.

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China hackers target rights groups, say Canadian researchers

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) – Chinese hackers are attacking activists, journalists and human rights groups using many of the same techniques they apply to steal state secrets and spy on corporations, a Canadian technology research group said on Tuesday.

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