Another riot-related thread 
Social media has become a hot and much contested topic recently, as UK prime minister David Cameron experienced when critics tore him to shreds over a statement where he expressed his desire to give government and police power to shut down social media during emergencies as a peacekeeping measure. Yikes.
(quick edit: My bad. Cameron meant, specifically, that they were examining if its possible to block suspected criminals from posting messages on social media sites. Still, the point stands.)
It's unlikely that would happen of course, but now law enforcers seem to be leaning towards a different approach: using social media to monitor and clamp down on troublemakers.
Men Sentenced to 4 Years for Inciting Riots on Facebook
Police averted riots at Olympic sites and Oxford Street by monitoring Twitter
What do you think? Would the UK be safer with cops tracking conversations in online social media, and making arrests from it? Does this violate people's civil rights (akin to bugging and phonetapping) or is it all fair game?
Social media has become a hot and much contested topic recently, as UK prime minister David Cameron experienced when critics tore him to shreds over a statement where he expressed his desire to give government and police power to shut down social media during emergencies as a peacekeeping measure. Yikes.
(quick edit: My bad. Cameron meant, specifically, that they were examining if its possible to block suspected criminals from posting messages on social media sites. Still, the point stands.)It's unlikely that would happen of course, but now law enforcers seem to be leaning towards a different approach: using social media to monitor and clamp down on troublemakers.
Men Sentenced to 4 Years for Inciting Riots on Facebook
Police averted riots at Olympic sites and Oxford Street by monitoring Twitter
What do you think? Would the UK be safer with cops tracking conversations in online social media, and making arrests from it? Does this violate people's civil rights (akin to bugging and phonetapping) or is it all fair game?
PS. If you can, try your hand at giving some of the others a bit of feedback. If you already have, thanks, can you do some more?