Britain may limit social media in name of security

IN A parliamentary address yesterday on the riots in England this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a statement that caught a lot of people’s attention on Twitter: “When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.”

He was discussing the role Twitter, Facebook, and Blackberry Messenger have played in allowing rioters to co-ordinate looting. (In fact, several have been arrested of using these technologies to incite violence)

“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 added. “Free flow of information can be used for good, but it can also be used for ill.”