Post date: Aug 18, 2011 1:38:33 PM
Stiff sentences for two men who used attempted to incite riots via Facebook and talk of preventing potential troublemakers from using social media services are stirring debate in the UK.
UK-SOCIAL THREAT - The worst rioting to hit Britain in decades cost lives and claimed livlihoods.
When news spread that some rioters had used BlackBerry messenger and social media services to plot destruction, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron called for a plan of action.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON SAYING:
"Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck 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."
Olivia Solon is an associate editor at Wired.co.uk and the comments Cameron made last week in the House of Commons raised as many questions as they answered.
Olivia Solon, Wired.co.uk associate editor saying
"So it was quite loosely-worded and he hasn't made any more statements about how it would work in practice, however it's getting into very sketchy territory of pre-crime, saying they might commit a crime and therefore being blocked from a particular service. It would be pratically incredibly difficult to do in the same way we've seen big statements made about the copyright law...it's just a kneejerk reaction."
In the east London district that's come to be known as Silicon Roundabout due to the cluster of young technology companies based here, Cameron's talk of a clampdown on the free flow of information through social media is raising concern. Elizabeth Varley is the co-founder and CEO of TechHub.
Elizabeth Varley, TechHub CEO saying
"What is concerning is that it's sending a message to say that if technology gets to a certain point that we don't understand it or we can't harness it in the way that we want, well then we need to shut it down."
Olivia Solon, Wired.co.uk associate editor saying
"All of the social media/tech community are up in arms about this and it's a communications channel just like the telephone or email or megaphones in the street and there are people who are concerned that this is going to infringe on their civil liberties. It's freedom of expression."
The UK government is not alone in celebrating the benefits of digital culture, while trying to excercise control over its excesses.
This spring, French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited technology leaders to Paris for the first eG8 conference, heaping praise on social media services for helping to fuel the Arab Spring while also warning leaders they did not operate in a parallel universe free from the rule of law.
Blogger Jeff Jarvis was among those to sound a warning.
JEFF JARVIS, BLOGGER AND PROFESSOR AT CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK JOURNALISM SCHOOL
"I fear that we see a government coming in believing that they do in fact think they can own and regulate the internet. And if this government can do it, why can't every other government, including China and Iran and Libya."
This week, two British men were sentenced to four years in jail for using Facebook to try to incite rioting, even each of their campaigns fell on deaf ears. The severity of the sentences has been widely criticized.
David Cameron defended the judge's ruling saying it would send a tough message.
And while the UK is debating measures to further crack down on social media, the transit network in the world's technology capital San Francisco admits it turned of cell phone service in its stations last week to quell a protest over a police shooting.
A subsequent protest by the hacker group anonymous forced the temporary closure of four subway stations, but the cell service was left on...which some hailed as a victory for free speech.
Matt Cowan Reuters