Social networking fanning London's flames?

Technology

Social networking fanning London's flames?

Close

BlackBerry and Twitter will assist the authorities to arrest miscreants.

09 August,2011 12:01 pm

Theres something slightly eerie when BlackBerry and Twitter, instead of, say, social policy and policing, are central to reports of rioting.BlackBerrys U.K. arm immediately took to twitter to distance itself, at least slightly, from its own alleged customers.We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can, the company said on its Twitter feed.However, BlackBerry reportedly wouldnt be drawn on just what kind of assistance it is willing to offer to the police. The company offered no further tweets, no further comment.Messenger communication is encrypted and the Guardian says BlackBerry had declared in the past that it is unable to unencrypt BBM messages. Perhaps the chaps at LulzSec could help.While BlackBerry was helping police with its inquiries, the deputy assistant commissioner of Londons Metropolitan Police, Steve Kavanagh, reportedly stated that really inflammatory, inaccurate Twitter postings were, in large part, the cause of riots that have seen several areas of London ablaze and residents of two London districts told to leave their homes.Social media and other methods have been used to organize these levels of greed and criminality, he told a press conference. He also reportedly declared that those who posted such messages risked arrest.