Tajikistan has ordered local Internet providers to block Twitter, one of more than 100 sites including popular Russian-language social networks starting next week, an industry representative told Agence France Presse Saturday.

"The (government) communications service has sent Internet companies a huge list of 131 sites that must be blocked in the country from Monday," said Asomiddin Atoyev, the head of the Tajik association of Internet providers.

Dutch MPs have voted not to ban illegal Internet downloads of copyrighted films, music and software, preferring to levy a tax on smartphones and computers.

"The motion calling on the government to renounce banning illegal downloads was passed," on Thursday evening, lower house spokesman Leon van Schie told Agence France Presse on Friday.

The European Commission said Friday that South Korea's Samsung Electronics was abusing its dominant market position in certain technologies when it took out injunctions against fierce rival Apple.

As the two giants fight it out in the smartphone and tablet computer market, the Commission said that in this instance, Samsung appeared to be at fault as the injunctions would prevent Apple from access to core shared patents.

Google's online Play shop of applications for Android-powered smartphones or tablets is growing fast, a report released Thursday by market tracker Distimo said.

The aggregate daily revenue at Google Play shops across the 20 largest countries where they are available climbed 43 percent during the past four months, while sales at Apple's online App Store increased 21 percent.

Facebook on Thursday began testing the feasibility of charging to guarantee that messages from strangers make it into inboxes of intended recipients at the social network.

Dabbling with getting people to pay to connect with Facebook members comes as the social network strives to tap the potential to make money from its membership base of more than a billion people.

Instagram on Thursday tried to calm a user rebellion by nixing a change that would have given the Facebook-owned mobile photo sharing service unfettered rights to people's pictures.

"The concerns we heard about from you the most focused on advertising, and what our changes might mean for you and your photos," Instagram co-founder and chief Kevin Systrom said in a blog post.

Chinese authorities, who have long sought to limit access to information, seem to have reinforced the so-called Great Firewall of China, frustrating foreign companies and raising activists' concerns.

The Great Firewall -- the country's huge system of Internet limits and censorship -- now appears to be stepping up targeting of virtual private networks, or VPNs, commonly used to circumvent controls on websites the government considers threatening.

Queen Elizabeth II will broadcast her annual Christmas message to Britain and the Commonwealth in 3D television for the first time, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.

Exactly 80 years after her grandfather king George V first started broadcasting a speech on December 25, the queen will embrace the new technology to mark her Diamond Jubilee year.

U.S. regulators unveiled new rules Wednesday aimed at strengthening online privacy protection for children, to reflect the growing use of mobile apps and social networks.

The Federal Trade Commission said its updated rules require online services to get consent from parents if they are aimed at children under 13 or know that they are collecting personal information from young children.

The U.S. video-game company behind popular titles "Saints Row" and "Red Faction" said on Wednesday it had filed for bankruptcy while wrangling to sell its assets to "a stalking horse bidder."

California-based THQ Inc. planned to continue operating its business while positioning itself to be taken over.