British/London riots have been disguise for social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. The reason being that British Prime Minister David Cameron, have had discussing a ban on those technologies which are driving the social networking platforms. The inclusion for the ban even has the instant messaging program of Blackberry. The result of the discussion did not ask for a complete ban over these platforms. It was noted that the functionality related to immediate messaging had connected rioters so that they could contact each other and worsen the situation.
The Prime Minister has apparently said that he would like the British authorities to work on having the abilities which would enable them in suspending these capabilities when there is social unrest. Facebook and Twitter in response had a “no thanks” attitude as they reported to The Guardian that they have no plans to pass on any such control to the British Government. An extract of the response was:
The major social networks are expected to offer no concessions when they meet the home secretary, Theresa May, at a Home Office summit on Thursday lunchtime.
The main point was not ‘control’, but Theresa May, Home Secretary even wanted to inquire as to how the accused can be caught via these services. This could be done when such text and images are posted via Twitter or Facebook. The same message was passed on for Blackberry makers RIM. Blackberry Messenger was noted by many as a medium for the rioters to create mayhem via the instant messaging service. The British authorities said that they would appreciate the social networking platforms to assist them to bring justice to rioters. If not, then the authorities would be fine with Twitter and F
acebook taking up responsibility for any such content posted on their sites. The post was expanded in The Guardian as:
Twitter and Facebook are expected to outline the steps that both social networks already take to remove messages that potentially incite violence. Facebook, which has 30 million users in the UK, said it had actively removed “several credible threats of violence” to stem the riots across England this month.
For RIM, there was news which was postponed for the time being. The BBM (Blackberry Messenger) portions would in future need to have the “private or encrypted” bifurcation. It was even said that RIM will not have to pass on any information related to the users till there is a warrant compelling them to.
Talking about the meetings, it looks like it would be ‘equals’ against each other as none of the parties would have been firm in their claims for the meet. The issue did rise during the riots and it cannot be denied that the involvement of RIM, Twitter and Facebook was there, however it was indirect. This point again cannot be ignored that during these times, people can be well informed about the mayhem, so that they can move in at secure places.
The point of getting access to disabling these social network came up when Tim Godwin, acting Metropolitan police commissioner reported to the home affairs committee MPs that the police were exploring the ‘switch off social network’ option, but later on they came to know that legally, they were handicapped in doing anything in this regard.