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  • Why Social Media Can't Be Blamed For London Riots - MoElnadi - TheReptileGroup

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    Mo Elnadi
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    So social media stands in the dock accused, and in my opinion, the power to ban represents a very dangerous step and a clear threat to UK democracy in the digital age. Having the power to stop people from using social networking sites because some irresponsible thugs happened to use those tools to organise looting and criminal activity is like thinking of needing to ban London buses because of a single bus accident!

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    Why Social Media Can't Be Blamed for London Riots _MoElnadi_TheReptileGroup

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    So social media stands in the dock accused, and in my opinion, the power to ban represents a very dangerous step and a clear threat to UK democracy in the digital age. Having the power to stop people from using social networking sites because some irresponsible thugs happened to use those tools to organise looting and criminal activity is like thinking of needing to ban London buses because of a single bus accident!

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    31 views2 pages

    Why Social Media Can't Be Blamed For London Riots - MoElnadi - TheReptileGroup

    Uploaded by

    Mo Elnadi
    So social media stands in the dock accused, and in my opinion, the power to ban represents a very dangerous step and a clear threat to UK democracy in the digital age. Having the power to stop people from using social networking sites because some irresponsible thugs happened to use those tools to organise looting and criminal activity is like thinking of needing to ban London buses because of a single bus accident!

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    Why

    #SocialMedia cant be blamed for #LondonRiots


    Postedby@MoElnadiAugust24201105:05pm

    Climaxes,EarthquakesandSocialMediaintheDock
    TomisquotethemoviemogulSamuelGoldwynwehaveseen eventsinrecentweeksthathavestartedoutwithaclimaxand workedtheirwayuptoanearthquake. Theclimaxcameduringtherecentemergencysessionof ParliamentwhenPrimeMinisterDavidCameronsaidhebelieved thatthefreeflowofinformationwasamajorproblemwhenit comestodealingwithcivildisobedienceonthescalewitnessedin therecentLondonriots. SuchwashisconcernthattheGovernmentisactivelyconsideringthebanningoffreeuseofTwitter, FacebookandothersocialmediatoolssuchasBlackBerrysBBMduringsuchemergencysituations. LaterthisweekthereisanofficialmeetingwithTwitter,FacebookandBlackberrytodiscusslogistics ofjustsuchaproposal. Sosocialmediastandsinthedockaccused,andinmyopinion,thepowertobanrepresentsavery dangerousstepandaclearthreattoUKdemocracyinthedigitalage.Havingthepowertostop peoplefromusingsocialnetworkingsitesbecausesomeirresponsiblethugshappenedtousethose toolstoorganiselootingandcriminalactivityislikethinkingofneedingtobanLondonbusesbecause ofasinglebusaccident! AssomeonewhocontributedtotheJan25Egyptianrevolutionthrougheffectiveuseofsocialmedia channels,Ivewitnessedfirsthandhowineffectivesuchgovernmentshutdownscouldbeintackling theproblemathand;wenowhaveproofthatblockingrealtimemasscommunicationservicesatthe Governmentsdiscretionisdefinitelynotthebestwaytotackletheissue.Anditsaslipperyslope.In fact,suchpotentialrestrictionstofreedomofspeechthreatentocauselastingdamagetoBritish democracyandcouldevenaffectthefreedomofrightsofinternetuserselsewhereintheworldas othergovernmentsdecidetofollowsuit.

    Thefactisthatsocialmediatoolsarejustanothercommunicationchannelexactlylikemobile phonesoremailandcanbeusedforbothgoodandevil. Forexample,duringtheriotsandusingthesametoolstoorganisecriminalactivity,thepublicwas alsoalertingothercitizensandtheauthoritiesthrough#hashtagsinrealtime,astowherelooting wasbreakingout,andevenbuiltaninteractiveGooglemapoftheaffectedareas. Thenextdaysocialmediawascentraltokickstartingaseriesofpositiveinitiatives,organising groupstocleanupthoseneighbourhoodsthatwereimpactedbytheriotsandarranging accommodationforthosedisplacedbythedisorder.And,perhapsmoreimportantly,thepublicwas quicktousethesamedigitalchannelstohelpthepolicedistributepicturesofthosewanted criminalstothemassesthroughFlickrforidentificationinordertoexpeditetheirprosecution. Ironicallywhilewestilldontseewidespreadadoptionofsocialmediabymanygovernment agencies,followingthisweeksearthquakeinNorthAmerica,theUSGovernmenturgedcitizensto usesocialmediatocontactrelativesduringthecrisis.ItseemsthattheUS,forone,hasgotthehint atleastthattheresnofasterwaytospreadthewordamongthemassesthansocialmediachannels. TherealcausesandsolutionstotheUKsproblemsaremuchmorecomplex,anditsrootcausesare clearlymoreculturalthantechnologyrelated. Pointingfingersatsocialmediaisscapegoatingatleastandsimplyludicrousatworst.Better utilisationofexistingCCTVandadvancedfacialrecognitiontechnologiescouldformpartofthe answertoaneededearlywarningnationalsecuritysystem. MoElnadi,HeadofDigital&SocialMediaStrategyTheReptileGroup

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