David Cameron, the British prime minister, has said that the authorities should consider blocking individuals’ access to social media if they are plotting violent acts, in the wake of the week’s riots and looting.
Internet sites and services ranging from Twitter and Facebook to BlackBerry Messenger, a private chat network on RIM’s smartphone, have been claimed to play a key role in organising and directing disorder on the streets of London, Birmingham, Manchester and other English cities.
Police across the country have already made several arrests in connection with their investigations into using social media to incite violence.
David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, where the violence began on Saturday night, has even called for BBM to be suspended to prevent the predominantly teenage looters from organising themselves on subsequent nights. RIM has said that it is co-operating with the authorities.
The prime minister told an emergency meeting of MPs in the House of Commons on Thursday:
“Everyone watching these horrific actions will be stuck by how they were organised via social media. Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill.
“So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality. I have also asked the police if they need any other new powers.”
Mr Cameron added that social networking companies should “think about their responsibility and about taking down” images that could incite further violence. He also bemoaned the “hoaxes” and misleading rumours about rioting that have spread through digital channels in recent days.
Users of social networking sites erupted in disbelief at the idea of an online crackdown.
Tom Watson, a Labour MP and longstanding Twitter user, said the move was “luddite”. “Technology is neutral,” he said.
Paul Chambers, who was convicted of posting a “menacing” Twitter message in a controversial case over a joke about threatening to blow up an airport, tweeted: “Does Cameron know that BBM is NOT social media? I expect there to be a review of text, phone calls, the postal system and carrier pigeon too.”
Some social network users questioned how police and intelligence agencies would know in advance that disorder was being planned. Others drew parallels with authoritarian regimes in the Middle East where services such as Twitter and Facebook were blocked during the Arab Spring protests.
Several Twitter users pointed out that the network had been more effective in organising clean-up efforts and ad-hoc support for those affected by the rioting than it had been in bringing looters out onto the streets.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, an internet freedom campaigner said: “How do people ‘know’ when someone is planning to riot? Who makes that judgement? The only realistic answer is the courts must judge. If court procedures are not used, then we will quickly see abuses by private companies and police. Companies like RIM must insist on court processes.”
He added: “Citizens also have the right to secure communications. Business, politics and free speech relies on security and privacy. David Cameron must be careful not to attack these fundamental needs because of concerns about the actions of a small minority.”
