The BlackBerry is particularly popular among U.K. teens, according to a recent study, mainly because of BBM, which essentially allows users to send free text messages to other BlackBerry owners. Those messages, however, are rather difficult to trace, reportedly making them an easy way for rioters to organize their efforts. RIM has said it will cooperate with U.K. police as it relates to lawful requests for data, an announcement that prompted hackers to deface the official BlackBerry blog.
Prime Minister David Cameron later proposed a social media ban for those found guilty of rioting or looting. “We 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,” Cameron said in a speech before the House of Commons.
“Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill,” Cameron continued. “And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.”
He did not go into detail about how that might work or how potential offenders would be identified, but Facebook, Twitter, and RIM are reportedly meeting with the U.K.’s home secretary next week to discuss that and other issues.
Speaking of Twitter, the micro-blogging site exploded this week. One in every 170 U.K. Internet visits on Monday was to Twitter, with the Twitter homepage receiving 3.4 million visits in the U.K. alone, according to data from Experian Hitwise.
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