The Internet was supposed to facilitate better exchange between the public and news media. But vile and hateful comments changed all that.

In the face of rising vitriol -- attacks, bigotry and general nastiness -- news organizations are increasingly throwing in the towel on online comments.

Britain's government published proposals for new Internet spying laws Wednesday including allowing partial access to a suspect's Internet browsing history that were condemned by privacy campaigners.

Home Secretary Theresa May hailed the draft legislation as a "world-leading oversight regime," but a leading rights group described the proposals as a "breath-taking attack" on Britain's online security.

The Central Bank of Lebanon (Banque du Liban / BDL) is organizing Lebanon’s second annual international startup conference – BDL Accelerate 2015 – on Thursday and Friday, the 10th and 11th of December 2015 at Forum de Beyrouth.

The theme, “Emerging Startup Ecosystems”, will gather entrepreneurs, investors, and support institutions from key emerging startup ecosystems across five continents. BDL Accelerate 2015 will host 3,000 attendees, 100 speakers, 100 exhibitors, and 100 startups from around the world, with two stages, two startup competitions, two workshop spaces, in a total conference space spanning 6,000 sqm.

San Franciscans vote Tuesday on a measure to limit short-term housing rentals in what is seen as a referendum on surging startup Airbnb.

The vote is a key test of sentiment over a simmering housing crisis and on Airbnb in a city experiencing waves of investments in tech startups, pressuring an already tight real estate market.

Britain's government gave the first details Sunday of contested plans to update Internet spying laws to keep pace with the digital age.

The proposed law comes as intelligence agencies and police grapple with monitoring terrorist activity online amid a debate sparked by Edward Snowden over government access to personal data online.

Concert promoters hoping to bring out legends such as Whitney Houston, Billie Holiday and Elvis Presley used to face an obvious problem -- the singers are dead.

But with rapid advances in technology, those stars and many more are returning to life through holograms, the three-dimensional light projections that have opened new frontiers for the live music and other industries.

Facebook chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday he believes India will be crucial to getting "the next billion online" and helping to alleviate poverty.

Speaking to about 900 students at New Delhi's Indian Institute of Technology, Zuckerberg said broadening Internet access was vital to economic development in a country where a billion people are still not online. 

Global online freedom declined for a fifth consecutive year as more governments stepped up electronic surveillance and clamped down on dissidents using blogs or social media, a survey showed Wednesday.

The annual report by non-government watchdog Freedom House said the setbacks were especially noticeable in the Middle East, reversing gains seen in the Arab Spring.

Twitter shares tumbled Tuesday after the struggling messaging platform reported only slim growth in its user base and a disappointing revenue outlook.

The San Francisco social network, which this month brought back co-founder Jack Dorsey as chief executive on a permanent basis, said its loss in the third quarter narrowed to $132 million from $175 million in the same period last year.

An Israeli NGO said Tuesday it was suing Facebook for failing to remove pages that encourage the killing of Jews, after a wave of attacks by Palestinians left nine Israelis dead.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of the Shurat HaDin organization that filed the lawsuit in the New York State Court on Monday, said the claim holds the Internet giant responsible for the presence of posts that incite violence.