How new media helped keep the peace

By Andrew Allison

During the recent riots, Humberside Police sent officers to assist the Metropolitan Police and other forces. Thankfully, copycat riots failed to occur in Hull, and life has been relatively peaceful. Not that some people didn’t try to suggest trouble was imminent at various times during Tuesday. How do I know this? Twitter.

I typed ‘Hull’ in the search box, and kept checking tweets on a regular basis. It’s as simple as that. During the course of Tuesday, I also read messages from the police, and the local mainstream media reassuring residents of the city all was calm. Now imagine what would have happened if social networking sites had been turned off.

The police, newspapers, and the BBC would not have been able to get their reassuring messages out to the public. The police would not have been able to monitor what was being said. An altogether different mood would have prevailed across the city that day. In a 24-hour media age, many of the opportunities to communicate with members of the public would have vanished in an instant.

To prove that social networking sites can be useful in fighting crime, here’s part of a statement made by the Deputy Chief Constable:

“There were no incidents of disorder and we have noticed a significant reduction in the number of irresponsible posts being placed on social networking media. We did make one arrest in the Grimsby area last night in relation to an ongoing social network posting investigation.”

It will not surprise you to hear I managed to find out about the arrest from Twitter, and if social networking sites had been closed down at the beginning of this week, the police would not have made an arrest. I am sure though the individual in question would have found other ways of trying to stir-up violence.

It is vital the government doesn’t provide a knee-jerk response to the events of the past week. In one breath it says it embraces technology, and in another it suggests technology is part of the problem. Used correctly, social media is a great way of staying in touch with family and friends, and is a useful tool for councils, the government, and emergency services to get messages out in an instant. Businesses and campaign groups use social media to communicate with customers and supporters too. Used incorrectly, the police will be able to find you, arrest you, and maybe charge you with an offence. Switching off Twitter and Facebook during times of civil unrest is not only anti-libertarian, it actually hinders the police from doing their job.