Now that the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared on the streets of London, British Prime Minister David Cameron is advocating sending anyone to jail and banning them from social networking sites if they tweet, Facebook or Blackberry Message (BBM) during times of crisis in order to incite rioting and looting.
The proposed new tactic will be overseen by Theresa Mary May, a British Conservative politician who serves as Home Secretary to the United Kingdom.
The Aftermath Of London Riot War Zone (PHOTOS)
May holds the opposite view of Cameron, explaining that the sensible thing to do is not completely ban users from social networking sites, but rather employ ways to use popular sites like Twitter and Facebook to contain disorder in times of crisis.
She even suggests implementing law enforcement to use sites which help find those who incite riots and looting.
Instead of going to the extreme by banning everyone and anyone from social networking sites, May’s plan is more pragmatic and reformative and not detrimental to young people.
London Is On Fire! Arson, Riots And Looting (PHOTOS)
It doesn’t stop with Twitter and Facebook either, the popular BlackBerry Messenger is also taking some heat. During the riots, many looters were BBMing one another and police had to intercept private BBM posts.
So this means the government hacked into people’s private BBM conversations?
The 411 On The London Riots: Mark Duggan’s Death Sparks Chaos (PHOTOS)
It only goes to show that when it all goes down, you can’t silence the masses.
Twitter, Facebook and BBM have become one of the only powerful tools that young people have. Russell Brand said it best when he wrote about the London riots and those that were looting: “No education, a weakened family unit, no money and no way of getting any.”
And now the one thing the young people have and can control as an outlet to the rest of the world, they want to take away from them? Not gonna happen and shouldn’t happen!
Russell Brand Pens London Riot Blog: “Bankers Got Away With A Lot More Than A F**king Pair Of Kicks”
This is online censorship at its worst and what’s crazy is British police had explored the possibility of switching off social networks, but discovered that they did not yet have the power to do so.
If superhero movies have taught us anything it’s that “with great power, comes greater responsibility.”
When young people have the power to organize, they may at times use it for bad and get caught, as we’ve seen in London. But when it’s used for good, social networking can be a beautiful thing that can change the world.
Just look at our friends in Egypt and Libya who used Twitter and Facebook to rise up against their tyrannical governments and changed their lives, government and country forever.
