Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed a bill that could cut off the country's internet traffic from servers abroad which critics say is a step towards censorship and possibly an isolated network like in North Korea.

The bill passed its first reading by 334 votes to 47 after an unusually heated debate in the State Duma, where many lawmakers from minority parties criticized it as too costly and argued that it was not written by experts. 

Britain on Friday urged all social media platforms to join Instagram and curb self-harm posts after a UK teen who went online to read about suicide took her own life.

Germany's Federal Competition Office (FCO) said Thursday it would impose new limits on how Facebook collects data from subsidiaries Whatsapp and Instagram, as well as third-party websites with embedded Facebook features such as "Like" buttons.

"In future, Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts," FCO chief Andreas Mundt said, insisting on "voluntary consent" for every kind of data collection.

Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly earnings beating Wall Street expectations on Monday, but shares slipped, with investors apparently focused on rising costs at the technology giant.

Alphabet reported a profit of $8.9 billion in the fourth quarter on revenue that was up 22 percent to $39.3 billion from the same period a year earlier.

Facebook said Thursday it took down hundreds of accounts from Iran that were part of a vast manipulation campaign operating in more than 20 countries.

Global smartphone sales saw their worst contraction ever in 2018, and the outlook for 2019 isn't much better, new surveys show.

Worldwide handset volumes declined 4.1 percent in 2018 to a total of 1.4 billion units shipped for the full year, according to research firm IDC, which sees a potential for further declines this year.

Facebook paid users, including teens, to track their smartphone activity as part of an effort to glean more data that could help the social network's competition efforts, according to a new report that may raise fresh privacy concerns.

Winning back trust is seen as the key priority for Facebook as the world's biggest social network readies its update on the final months of 2018 on Wednesday.

Chinese tech giant Huawei overtook Apple to become the second-largest smartphone seller in the world in 2018.

A newly discovered FaceTime bug lets people hear and even see those they are reaching out to on iPhones even if the other person hasn't answered their phone.