Twitter has confirmed that it will attend a meeting with UK Home Secretary Theresa May and other UK officials about the role social media played in riots earlier this month.
Facebook and BlackBerry-maker RIM confirmed their participation in the meeting last week, but at the time a Twitter spokesperson only said, “We’d be happy to listen.”
After it became clear that some rioters were using social media and BlackBerry messenger to coordinate violence, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that the government was examining whether to ban suspected troublemakers in the riot from using social media and other digital communication tools.
“When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them,” he said, to the chagrin of many free speech activists. “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.”
Image courtesy of Flickr, ukhomeoffice
More About: twitter, UK riotsFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:28:51 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/28u2mfhPSRM/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/22/twitter-facebook-rim-uk-government/#comments
Facebook and BlackBerry-maker RIM confirmed their participation in the meeting last week, but at the time a Twitter spokesperson only said, “We’d be happy to listen.”
After it became clear that some rioters were using social media and BlackBerry messenger to coordinate violence, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that the government was examining whether to ban suspected troublemakers in the riot from using social media and other digital communication tools.
“When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them,” he said, to the chagrin of many free speech activists. “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.”
Image courtesy of Flickr, ukhomeoffice
More About: twitter, UK riotsFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:28:51 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/28u2mfhPSRM/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/22/twitter-facebook-rim-uk-government/#comments