TWITTER STANDS ITS GROUND

It seems totalitarian states like Egypt and Libya aren’t the only ones struggling with the impact of social media and the desire to muzzle services such as Twitter and Facebook. In the wake of the riots in London, the British government says it’s considering shutting down access to social networks—as well as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry messenger service—and is asking the companies involved to help. Prime Minister David Cameron said that not only is his government considering banning individuals from using social media if they are suspected of causing disorder, but that it has also asked Twitter and other providers to take down images and posts that are contributing to "unrest."

The British PM said further that he has asked the police whether they need any new powers to stop the violence, including the ability to shut down social networks or communications services if they believe these tools are being used to incite unrest. Police in Britain have reportedly already begun arresting people based on their use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, charging them with suspicion of inciting violence and/or disorder for posting tweets, status updates, and photos. In his statement to the House of Commons, Cameron said:

"[W]e 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."

It’s not clear, however, how the British government plans to identify who is "plotting" to commit violence or criminal acts using social media. Would posting a photo of a burning car be enough? Would retwittering someone who admitted to causing violence get a user’s account shut down or result in questioning by the authorities? The Prime Minister didn’t say. Meanwhile, British Home Secretary Theresa May is reportedly meeting with Twitter, Facebook, and BlackBerry to discuss their "responsibilities" during such events.

TWITTER STANDS ITS GROUND
For its part, Twitter has said it has no intention of blocking any users’ accounts or removing their posts. A spokesman who talked to The Telegraph about the issue referred to a Twitter blog post earlier this year entitled "The Tweets Must Flow," in which co-founder Biz Stone and Twitter’s general counsel Alex Macgillivray said: "We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content."

Those comments were made during the popular uprisings in Tahrir Square in Egypt, when the Egyptian government shut down access not just to social networks and mobile communications networks, but eventually to the entire Internet: an attempt to smother dissent that ultimately failed—and may have actually accelerated the revolution in that country. Britain’s Prime Minister and his government would no doubt argue that there is a world of difference between what they are doing and what Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak did, but free-speech advocates aren’t likely to agree.

As we’ve pointed out before, the role that Twitter and other social tools have played in the London riots is identical to the role they played in the uprisings and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, and other countries. In other words, they have allowed people to connect with each other and distribute information quickly and easily to tens of thousands of users of these services. That’s the power of real-time networks.

Obviously, that has allowed some to spread misinformation and plan acts of violence—but it has also allowed others to correct that information and to coordinate positive moves as well, such as planning a cleanup detail in the wake of the London riots.