The latest parental panic on social media — over a purported challenge for kids to complete harmful tasks — elevates the importance of establishing an open dialogue with children and taking advantage of online parental controls.

Warnings about the "Momo challenge" swept Facebook and other social media in recent days, as parents worried about purported videos that encourage children to hurt themselves or do other harmful tasks such as turning on stoves without telling their parents. The parental warnings were accompanied by a disturbing image of a grinning creature with matted hair and bulging eyes.

Two French journalists were sacked Friday for their part in an online bullying scandal that has shaken the country's media, industry sources told AFP.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei racked up a slew of deals to sell 5G equipment at the world's top mobile fair in Spain despite Washington's campaign to convince its allies to bar the firm from their next-generation wireless networks.

Facebook and Twitter are doing too little to scrutinise advertising placements on their sites in the runup to European Union elections in May, despite their pledges to fight disinformation, EU officials said Thursday.

Egypt will host Chinese telecom company Huawei's first cloud data platform in the Middle East and North Africa, Egypt's telecom ministry said in a statement. 

"Huawei will create its own cloud computing through the data centre of Telecom Egypt", a statement by the ministry said Monday, referring to the North African country's state owned telecom company.

Huawei's chairman said Tuesday that the United States has "no evidence" that its equipment to build next-generation 5G wireless networks could be used as a vehicle for Chinese spy operations.

Handset makers are racing to launch their first smartphones with folding screens but analysts warn the technology is still too rudimentary -- and expensive -- to woo consumers in large numbers for now. 

The telecoms industry is gearing up for 5G, the next generation wireless networks which could enable new technologies such as self-driving cars and robot surgeons. But it may be raising expectations too early.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei on Sunday unveiled a phone with a folding screen, just four days after rival Samsung became the first major handset maker to offer the feature.

Google-owned YouTube said Thursday it was taking action to close a loophole that enabled users to share comments and links on child pornography over the video-sharing service.

The response came after a YouTube creator this week revealed what he called a "wormhole" that allowed comments and connections on child porn alongside innocuous videos.