http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023924/London-riots-2011-BlackBerry-Messenger-shut-unbelievable.html
http://www.channel4.com/news/blackberry-messenger-curfew-expected-to-hinder-rioting
 | |||
| Blackberry--> how it helped towards the riots |
Blackberry
Blackberry played a significant role throughout the riots, the BBM messenger service is untraceable by authorities so therefore they did not know what the young people were saying & were they were going to meet so instead they tried to have a blackberry "blackout" on the messenger service.
This link demonstrates how blackberry paid a vital role in the London Riots, the messenger is cleverly encryted meaning that authorites are not able to trace the messenger service and that they cannot incept them this therefore means they did not know what people were planning, it was only because of some youths and people comming forward that they knew that the broadcasts were happening and therefore they had debate whether to have a "blackberry blackout".
So how has BBM been used during the London riots?
It’s been used in fundamentally the same way as one might use Twitter, with widespread calls to action being broadcast to groups of contacts, except under PIN protection. One BBM broadcast sent on Sunday and shown to the Guardian called for people from all over London to vandalize shops on Oxford Street and to attack the police. It read: “Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, Bare SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!) fuck the feds we will send them back with OUR riot! >:O Dead the ends and colour war for now so if you see a brother… SALUT! if you see a fed… SHOOT!”. Another message read: “Everyone in edmonton enfield wood green everywhere in north link up at enfield town station at 4 o clock sharp!!!!”
These messages clearly show how youths were very wiled up about the situation but they are not making the situation better for themselves in this situation by saying if they see a Fed to shoot. This therefore is clearly sticking to the theory of stickiness of labels,this links in with psychologits idea of Rosehan who had the idea of stickiness of labels meaning that if you give someone a label that they are just going to stick to it.
RIM also released an extended statement where Patrick Spence, managing director of global sales and regional marketing, added: “As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we co-operate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.”
What else could be done?
In order to cooperate with the police further, RIM would have to hand over its customers’ private data that it is contractually obliged to protect. This is something that it wouldn’t do without a court order. If such an order were to be issued, then it might hand over e-mail addresses, BBM nicknames and the contents of BBM messages.
But let’s remember that these riots aren’t really about social media. They are about bored, young, poor disaffected members of society lashing out and causing criminal damage to their neighborhoods and their neighbors’ neighborhoods. Yes social networks are involved, but that extends just as much to offline social networks — people meeting up and talking in the streets. E-mails, regular text messages and even megaphones are also just as easily used to communicate en masse.
Widespread calls to block BBM are misguided and will affect a majority of law-abiding citizens taking advantage of a great free service. Tory MP Patrick Mercer told the Today program on the BBC’s Radio 4 that blocking the BlackBerry Messenger would be “interfering with our own liberties”.
Just as social media is used to organize people to negative effect, it’s also used by the anti-riot movement — with BBM, Twitter and Facebook being used to warn and inform Londoners of places to avoid and what to do if their neighborhood is affected. Hashtags such as #riotcleanup and #riotwombles have emerged on Twitter, and it won’t be long before we’ll see anti-riot messages emerge on BBM from people — young and old — who disagree with the violence and looting and want to reclaim their streets.
What is BlackBerry doing about it?
Clearly the riots are not BlackBerry’s fault, but given the high penetration of BlackBerry phones among the age group that is largely causing the disturbances and the fact that BBM cannot be monitored in the way that Facebook and Twitter can be, BlackBerry has been under pressure to respond. Before the trouble flared up yesterday afternoon, the UK BlackBerry account tweeted: “We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.”RIM also released an extended statement where Patrick Spence, managing director of global sales and regional marketing, added: “As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we co-operate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.”
What else could be done?
In order to cooperate with the police further, RIM would have to hand over its customers’ private data that it is contractually obliged to protect. This is something that it wouldn’t do without a court order. If such an order were to be issued, then it might hand over e-mail addresses, BBM nicknames and the contents of BBM messages.
But let’s remember that these riots aren’t really about social media. They are about bored, young, poor disaffected members of society lashing out and causing criminal damage to their neighborhoods and their neighbors’ neighborhoods. Yes social networks are involved, but that extends just as much to offline social networks — people meeting up and talking in the streets. E-mails, regular text messages and even megaphones are also just as easily used to communicate en masse.
Widespread calls to block BBM are misguided and will affect a majority of law-abiding citizens taking advantage of a great free service. Tory MP Patrick Mercer told the Today program on the BBC’s Radio 4 that blocking the BlackBerry Messenger would be “interfering with our own liberties”.
Just as social media is used to organize people to negative effect, it’s also used by the anti-riot movement — with BBM, Twitter and Facebook being used to warn and inform Londoners of places to avoid and what to do if their neighborhood is affected. Hashtags such as #riotcleanup and #riotwombles have emerged on Twitter, and it won’t be long before we’ll see anti-riot messages emerge on BBM from people — young and old — who disagree with the violence and looting and want to reclaim their streets.
