Member for

3 years 11 months
Submitted by unname1 on Fri, 08/12/2011 - 10:51
Britain is considering disrupting online social networking such as Blackberry Messenger and Twitter during civil unrest, Prime Minister David Cameron said on August 11.

Police and politicians have said online social networks, in particular Research in Motion's popular Blackberry Messager (BBM), were used by rioters and looters to coordinate during four days of disorder across England this week.

"We are working with 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," Cameron told parliament during an emergency session prompted by the riots.

Many of the rioters favoured Canadian firm RIM's BBM over Twitter and other social media because its messages are encrypted and private.

The company said on August 8 that it cooperates with all telecommunications, law enforcement and regulatory authorities, but it declined to say whether it would hand over chat logs or user details to police.       

Reuters

Add new comment

Đăng ẩn
Tắt