Plans to ban suspected rioters from using social networking websites in times of ‘civil unrest’ have been abandoned by the government.

The idea was initially suggested by prime minister David Cameron immediately after a weekend of rioting spread across towns in England, supposedly fuelled by Facebook, Twitter and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry instant messaging system.

But home secretary Theresa May told those companies in a meeting that the government had no intention of “restricting internet services”.

Instead, according to a Home Office statement, the discussions “looked at how law enforcement and the networks can build on the existing relationships and co-operation to prevent the networks being used for criminal behaviour”.

All three companies invited to the meeting echoed support for co-operation between law enforcement, government and social media services. “Governments and law enforcement agencies around the world use Twitter to engage in open, public, communications… we’ve heard from many that Twitter is an effective way to distribute updates and dispel rumours in times of crisis or emergency,” said a spokesperson from Twitter.

(Source: MediaGuardian)

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