Following the summer’s riots in London, Birmingham and Manchester, the reactionary finger of blame was pointed at everything and everyone. But one potential culprit seemed to be a very popular target for politicians. Social networks.
And, in a recent parliamentary discussion, Home Secretary Theresa May has admitted that discussions have been held with top networks, and that potential troublemakers and rabble-rousers could find themselves disconnected:
“I did indeed meet with Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry and met them with representatives from Acpo (Association of Chief Police Officers) and the Metropolitan Police.We discussed a number of matters, both how the police can actively use social media networks, but also the companies looking at the terms and conditions they have and when they might be taking people off the network because they might be breaching those terms and conditions.”
Theresa May – Home Secretary
Public Support
Despite a backlash against potential ‘censorship‘ on many social networks, it appears that the majority of the UK public support the complete closure of social networks.
In a survey of 973 adults, 70% of respondents agreed that social media sites and Blackberry Messenger should be shut down during periods of “social unrest”, while 46% thought that governments should have open and unrestricted access to data held by social media sites.
Facebook have already publically stated that there is no place on Facebook for content that incites violence, following the removal of a number of pages dedicated to decidedly unfunny jokes about rape. So it looks like the social networks could be willing to go along with these measures.
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