How Western Countries Will Suppress The Internet During Times Of Social Unrest

Facebook, Twitter and Research In Motion have said they are willing to talk to the government about the use of social media during the riots in London and the UK that started on Saturday. Photo credit: Nicobobinus/Flickr

Repressing The Internet, Western-Style -- Wall Street Journal

As politicians call for more online controls after London and Norway, authoritarian states are watching.



Did the youthful rioters who roamed the streets of London, Manchester and other British cities expect to see their photos scrutinized by angry Internet users, keen to identify the miscreants? In the immediate aftermath of the riots, many cyber-vigilantes turned to Facebook, Flickr and other social networking sites to study pictures of the violence. Some computer-savvy members even volunteered to automate the process by using software to compare rioters' faces with faces pictured elsewhere on the Internet.



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My Comment: A good review and commentary on how social media was used in starting the riots in England (and elsewhere) can be found here.