David Cameron on social media

[james_davis_nicoll]

In February 2011:

"This movement belongs to the frustrated Tunisian fruit seller who can’t take his product to market. And to the students in Cairo who can’t get a fair start, and the millions of Egyptians who live on $2 a day. In short, it belongs to the people who want to make something of their lives, and to have a voice. It belongs to a new generation for whom technology – the internet and social media – is a powerful tool in the hands of citizens, not a means of repression. It belongs to the people who’ve had enough of corruption, of having to make do with what they’re given, of having to settle for second best."

August, 2011

The government is exploring whether to turn off social networks or stop people texting during times of social unrest.

Comments

[julesjones]

I do not agree with turning off the texting, not least because of the number of people, including me, who were using their phones during the orderly evacuation of Manchester city centre to let people know they were safe, and to let people know where the trouble spots were so they could try to avoid them.

But the flip side of that is that what happened in Manchester was not a protest -- it was a pre-planned operation by the local gangster, who had worked out how to use SMS to organise a large scale smash and grab raid while half the local force were down in London. (Torygraph article, but nevertheless a good explanation, with the video showing him in action on the night).

I'm not sure if Cameron actually knew that when he was performing in parliament, but the beam isn't quite as large as you're suggesting.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

RIM's people were warning the UKGov of the double-edged consequences of such a shut-down during the riots, as I recall. Whether Cameron's willing to admit as much is another matter.