Coming across the message "this page cannot be displayed" while browsing the Internet is a common experience for Chinese netizens, and is often a sign the content was removed by Internet censors. The practice is known as "post-deleting," and a recent inside account reveals how the industry has boomed.

Like most things in China, the dubious practice of deleting posts straddles both business and officialdom, according the report in Beijing-based Century Weekly on Feb. 18. This gray economy is controlled by public relations companies, website managers, and Party officials tasked with monitoring the Internet.  

Also known as "Internet crisis public relations companies," post-deleting firms serve private businesses as well as officials. One such company, Beijing Qihang Internet Public Relations, explains on its website that certain online posts must be deleted because "many well-known enterprises spend large amounts of money on establishing their corporate images. If they do not take action to remove negative articles, they could find themselves in a deadly crisis." 

Croatia's Ministry of Tourism is offering grants under the framework of the programme to encourage free internet access at tourist destinations, called 'Hotspot Croatia', for which it will set aside HRK 1.5 million this year. The programme is open to local authorities that want to provide free internet access in open areas such as main plazas, walkways, public beaches, open spaces ports and bus stations. Some of the nominated hotspot sites, which the ministry will co-fund with up to 50 percent of eligible costs, will have to be in place and operable from the beginning of June, and requests will be accepted until 15 March.

Late last year, according to Symantec group, cyber crime amounts to a cost to consumers of $110 billion, affecting almost 1.5 million people per day. As people spend more time online, so do criminals. Even bank accounts are being compromised and cellphones hacked.

More and more cyber-criminals are operating internationally, often using substantial infrastructure. Indeed, last year, the McAfee company and the online banking security company Guardian Analytics uncovered a fraud involving the use of 60 servers to make thousands of attempts to steal from the bank accounts. The scam actually started in Italy and spread to accounts in Germany, Latin America and the US. It bypassed security measures such as the "two-factor authentication" keypad used for online banking and attempts were made to steal at least $60m. In total, almost $2bn could have been at risk.

Facebook for iPhone now doubles as a way to phone a friend for free.

The social network today released version 5.5 of its iPhone and iPad application to allow for free friend-to-friend voice calling in the U.S. and Canada.

The voice-over-IP functionality extends a feature that was first introduced on Facebook Messenger to even more of the social network's mobile audience. The feature, which should appeal to teens and cheapskates, could help the social network keep the attention of its youngest users, some of whom have, according to a recent SEC filing by the company, "reduced their engagement with Facebook in favor of increased engagement with other products and services such as Instagram."

The state-owned railway unveiled the plan on Thursday, noting that the first 20 stations will be equipped with free WiFi access this year, with the rest by the end of 2015.

“I am pleased to offer access to modern communications to our customers in our stations,” Andreas Meyer, SBB’s CEO, said in a statement.

“This complements the reception in our trains, which we are continually improving with telecommunications operators,” Meyer said.

SBB said it will be installing telecom repeaters in the railway carriages of trains on its major routes to improve reception for passengers using mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and computers.