Britain takes technology lessons from Egypt
Today, David Cameron had this to say to Parliament on the role of technology in the recent riots:
“Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be stuck by how they were organised via social media. Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.
“So 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. I have also asked the police if they need any other new powers.”
It is a sad indictment of how poorly technology is understood in Government that this even made it into the statement. Aside from the fact that Blackberry Messenger is not a social network, the Whitehall response of blaming social media and BBM for the riots is only made worse by their proposed solution - let us see everything, or shut it down.
It’s a further sign of how inadequate the police’s intelligence gathering remains when so much of the discussion between those involved in the disorder took place in public forums.
To shut down social networking would require both shutting down the internet and mobile phone comms. Whether that is even possible, and ignoring the enormous economic impact it would have, the fact it is being considered should send a chill wind through the whole country.
Civil unrest - and indeed wars between nations - began, and were organised, long before modern technology. Technology facilitates faster action, but the underlying issues remain the same.
William Hague’s interview with Andrew Marr during the uprisings in Egypt offer an alternative viewpoint, which was clearly illustrated in a subsequent statement.
“The abuse of internet and mobile networks and, in particular, today’s increased intimidation and harassment of journalists, are unacceptable and disturbing.”
Quite.
Categories: Campaign Issues, Government IT, Political campaigning, The Media
Tags: blackberry messenger, london riots, Technology, William Hague
Comments: 3 Comments.
Great post Nick. What make me more sad is that in spite of technology being used for ‘bad’ there are about 10 examples of Twitter and Facebook being used this week for clean-up efforts, community get togethers, and communication about the safety and welfare of friends and family.
This kind of ’something must be done’ in the face of terrorism/riots/[insert bad event here] only serves to foster a doom and gloom scenario of the world we live in today with technology.
And technology didn’t make the riots happen, people did.
I couldn’t agree more, Sir.
Unfortunately Mr Cameron seems to be saying that you can have these things provided we can sensor them……Which is of course the opposite of what Mr Hague appears to be saying.
What they really mean is that censorship is OK provided that they are doing the censoring.
When you up here again?
What makes Cameron’s statement even worse, and more hypocritical, is that he had just come from a COBRA cabinet meeting, where he had been informed by police, civil servants and cabinet ministers, that to do this you would have to close down wireless networks over a wide area, and that this would be impracticable, if not impossible.
Political posturing at its worst.