Australia's government on Thursday announced a new taskforce to monitor the actions of tech giants such as Facebook and Google but stopped short of a major clampdown recommended by the country's consumer watchdog.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is urging countries like France to suspend taxes on global computing giants such as Google and Amazon and wait for a negotiated agreement on international taxation, according to a letter released Wednesday.

A Moroccan YouTuber was arrested and appeared in court Tuesday for "insulting Moroccans and constitutional institutions" in a video, the kingdom's public prosecutor announced.

Tesla founder Elon Musk went on trial on Tuesday in Los Angeles in a defamation case involving a British caver he allegedly called a pedophile during a spat on Twitter.

The EU will relaunch its deadlocked effort to more closely regulate internet phone and message services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Messenger, a top bloc official said on Tuesday.

France warned the United States on Tuesday of strong EU retaliation if it imposed tariffs on French products ranging from sparkling wine to cheese and handbags, in an intensifying row over taxing digital giants that risks spiraling into a new trade war.

The European Commission said Monday it had begun a "preliminary investigation" into how Facebook and Google collect personal data and what they do with it.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday that U.S. officials no longer wanted a global deal on taxing multinational technology giants, and that Washington might be preparing penalties over a digital tax implemented by France this year.

China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Thursday it was exiting the semiconductor business, selling its loss-making subsidiary to a Taiwanese firm as it struggles with intense competition from China and South Korea.