Social Networking Censorship in the UK

Tim Loughton, the Children's Minister, has accused mothers and fathers of aiding and abetting pre-teens to open accounts on Facebook.

His whinge was in response to Labour MP Ann Coffey who urged the Government and mobile phone companies to do more to combat sexting , where teenagers send sexual pictures of themselves to each other using camera phones.

Loughton said parents had a responsibility to monitor youngsters online, adding:

Having a Facebook page, you should be at least 13 to do that. That is not legally enforceable.

We know, and I know from personal experience, the temptations for younger children to set up a Facebook site and get involved with those social media.

And I also know that in too many cases they do that aided and abetted by parents. So it's not just a question of giving information to parents, it's making sure parents are acting responsibly on behalf of their children too.

A Facebook spokesman said:

Facebook is currently designed for two age groups (13-18 year olds and 18 and up), and we provide extensive safety and privacy controls based on the age provided.

If someone reports an underage account to use then we will remove it, and use back-end end technology to try and prevent them signing up again.

However, recent reports have highlighted just how difficult it is to implement age restrictions on the Internet and that there is no single solution to ensuring younger children don't circumvent a system or lie about their age.

However, we agree with safety experts that communication between parents/guardians and kids about their use of the Internet is vital.

Just as parents are always teaching and reminding kids how to cross the road safely, talking about internet safety should be just as important a lesson to learn.

Presumably this is along the lines of what Dave Cameron and co are thinking when they talk about internet censorship in times of troubles.

Thinking about e-mailing your friends and neighbors about the protests against Wall Street happening right now? If you have a Yahoo e-mail account, think again. ThinkProgress has reviewed claims that Yahoo is censoring e-mails relating to the protest and found that after several attempts on multiple accounts, we too were prevented from sending messages about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

Over the weekend, thousands gathered for a Tahrir Square -style protest of Wall Street's domination of American politics. The protesters, organized online and by organizations like Adbusters, have called their effort Occupy Wall Street and have set up the website: www.OccupyWallSt.org. However, several YouTube users posted videos of themselves trying to email a message inviting their friends to visit the Occupy Wall St campaign website, only to be blocked repeatedly by Yahoo.

ThinkProgress emails relating to the OccupyWallSt.org protest were blocked with the following message (emphasis added):

Your message was not sent Suspicious activity has been detected on your account. To protect your account and our users, your message has not been sent. If this error continues, please contact Yahoo! Customer Care for further help. We apologize for the inconvenience.

And in a later update:

Yahoo's customer care Twitter account acknowledges blocking the emails, but says it was an unintentional error: We apologize 4 blocking 'occupywallst.org' It was not intentional & caught by our spam filters. It is resolved, but may be a residual delay.

[Yeah! yeah!]

Commons Home Affairs select committee, 11th September 2011

Following accusations that social media were used to play a key role in the social unrest in August, representatives from Research in Motion, Twitter and Facebook appeared for questioning by the Commons Home Affairs select committee.

Stephen Bates, Managing Director of BlackBerry's Research in Motion, Richard Allen, Director of Policy at Facebook and Alexander McGilvray of Twitter were questioned by the committee, chaired by MP Keith Vaz, regarding the role of social media in the riots which spread across the country in August, and the trio insisted that all three platforms were used as a force for good.

In the midst of the unrest, calls were made to shut down social networking, particularly BlackBerry messenger, as it was suggested that this was being used to organise violence. Cutting off Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry messenger in times of unrest seems no different to the censoring this kind of media experiences in China and oppressive countries over the world.

The committee heard that should it be necessary, all three of the representatives of the social media, who work within frameworks to condone with the law, would not resist closing down social media, but did not feel that it would be necessary.

Bates, Allen and McGilvray all said that throughout the unrest in August, social media were used in a positive way -- to contact family and friends to advise that users were safe, to help clean-up in the wake of the riots, and perhaps most importantly as a tool of communication, used to quell and correct rumours.

A key issue addressed by the committee was responsibility. Bates admitted that BlackBerry messenger had been used in a malicious way to organise crime, but stressed the need for balance when addressing the issue.

Keith Vaz advised that there may be times when closing down social media was necessary, asking Why should the government not use the powers to close down these networks if there is mass disorder and this is the only way to stop it happening.

The Home Office has published draft terror legislation to be used in supposedly exceptional circumstances.

The Enhanced Terrorism and Investigation Measures Bill follows  the government's review of CT powers, published in January, that claims enhanced measures are necessary in extraordinary circumstances.

IHome Secretary Theresa May said:

So we will publish, but not introduce, legislation allowing more stringent measures, including curfews and further restrictions on communications, association and movement.

These measures will require an even higher standard of proof to be met and would be introduced if in exceptional circumstances they were required to protect the public from the threat of terrorism.

We will invite the Opposition to discuss this draft legislation with us on Privy Council terms. These powers would be enacted only with the agreement of both Houses of Parliament.'

Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan both pleaded guilty to using Facebook in attempts to instigate riots in Cheshire. They have been jailed for four years

Jordan Blackshaw set up an event called Smash Down in Northwich Town for the night of 8 August on the social networking site but no one apart from the police, who were monitoring the page, turned up at the pre-arranged meeting point outside a McDonalds restaurant. Blackshaw was promptly arrested.

Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan used his Facebook account in the early hours of 9 August to design a web page entitled The Warrington Riots. The court was told it caused a wave of panic in the town. When he woke up the following morning with a hangover, he removed the page and apologised, saying it had been a joke. His message was distributed to 400 Facebook contacts, but no rioting broke out as a result.

Sentencing Blackshaw to four years in a young offenders institution, Judge Elgan Edwards QC said he had committed an evil act . This happened at a time when collective insanity gripped the nation. Your conduct was quite disgraceful and the title of the message you posted on Facebook chills the blood. T he judge said Sutcliffe-Keenan caused a very real panic and put a very considerable strain on police resources in Warrington .

The revelation that magistrates were advised by justices' clerks to disregard normal sentencing guidelines when dealing with riot-related cases alarmed a number of lawyers who warn it will trigger a spate of appeals.

Water Fights

Based on article from guardian.co.uk

A man will appear before magistrates next month for allegedly trying to organise a mass water fight via his mobile phone. The 20-year-old from Colchester was arrested on Friday after Essex police discovered the alleged plans circulating on the BlackBerry Messenger service and Facebook.

The unnamed man has been charged with encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence under the 2007 Serious Crime Act, police said.

He was arrested with another 20-year-old man the day the water fight was allegedly due to take place, and has been bailed to appear before Colchester magistrates on 1 September. The second man was released without charge.

Update: Dundee Riots?

19th August 2011. See  article from  news.scotsman.com

A schoolboy has been banned from using the internet until he stands trial accused of trying to incite riots on Facebook. The 14-year-old boy appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court. He was arrested along with Shawn Divin and Jordan McGinley who were remanded in custody.

The schoolboy appeared on a petition alleging that along with Divin and McGinley he encouraged others to riot in Dundee. Prosecutors say the trio acted in a disorderly manner by creating the page between 9 and 10 August. The 14-year-old was released on bail with the condition that he does not access the internet by any means.

Update: Northwich Riots?

19th August 2011.  See  article from  bbc.co.uk

A Cheshire man jailed for using Facebook to incite disorder during last week's riots is to appeal against his prison sentence.

Jordan Blackshaw was jailed for four years at Chester Crown Court. The judge said he hoped the sentences would act as a deterrent.

Blackshaw's barrister said his 21-year-old client and his family were somewhat shocked by the sentence .

Update: Bream Riots?

19th August 2011.  See  article from  bbc.co.uk

A 19-year-old in Gloucestershire who posted Facebook messages encouraging people to vandalise a shop during last week's riots has avoided court.

Joshua Moulinie posted a message on his Facebook wall urging people to damage the Spar store in his home town of Bream, Forest of Dean. But instead of facing the courts, Moulinie - who said it was a blatant joke - was told to write a letter of apology to the shop owner.

Update: Two More

19th August 2011.  See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Two more people have been charged with inciting public disorder via social network sites and are due to appear in court on Thursday, Cheshire police said.

A 24-year-old man from Runcorn is due to appear at Warrington Magistrates Court and a 17-year-old male from Crewe will appear at Crewe Magistrates Court.

Update: Appeals

1st October 2011.   See  article from  huffingtonpost.co.uk

Two men jailed for four years for setting up Facebook pages inciting others to riot have challenged their manifestly excessive custodial terms.

Lawyers for Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan told three Court of Appeal judges that what their clients had done was monumentally foolish , hugely stupid and hugely short-sighted .

But they urged the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, sitting in London with Lord Justice Thomas and Lord Justice Leveson, to rule that their sentences were too long.

Chester Crown Court had heard that Blackshaw set up a Facebook event called Smash Down In Northwich Town but nobody turned up at the meeting point outside a McDonald's restaurant.

Sutcliffe-Keenan's page, The Warrington Riots, invited people to riot on the evening of Wednesday August 10 between 7pm and 10pm.

Gareth Roberts, counsel for Blackshaw, told the appeal judges: Four years goes well beyond what could be a properly deterrent sentence and could properly be deemed to be a fair sentence, even in the context of what was going on nationwide.

Judgement was deferred to a later date.

Update: Appeal Outcomes

19th October 2011. See article from bbc.co.uk , thanks to Nick
See also Rejecting these riot appeals is no deterrent from  guardian.co.uk by Alan Travis

Appeals by two men jailed for using Facebook to try to incite disorder during August's riots in England have been rejected by the Court of Appeal.

Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan and Jordan Blackshaw were among 10 people challenging riot-related sentences. The court rejected five other appeals but cut the sentences for three people convicted of handling stolen goods.

Update: Joking in Hastings

22nd November 2011. See  article from  dailymail.co.uk

A man has been cleared inciting looting at the height of the nationwide riots in the summer with a series of Facebook messages.

A jury decided unemployed Nathan Sinden was joking when he wrote comments including: Let's start a riot in Hastings. Who's on it? In postings visible to his 754 Facebook friends, he also wrote: Looting it is then today. Who's up for shopping? and followed it up with Town on lockdown. LOL. But in a private chat thread on Facebook, Sinden was asked by a friend whether he was serious about his comments and he confirmed he was joking.

Shaven-headed Sinden, of St Leonards-on-Sea, was arrested the following day but told police he was joking and never had any intention to follow through with his threats. He denied intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of burglary.

Jurors sitting at Hove Crown Court returned a not guilty verdict after deliberating for 30 minutes.

Update: Riot in the Toon

21st December 2011. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Two teenagers who used Facebook to try to start a riot in a Scottish city have been locked up for three years each.

Shawn Divin, 16, and Jordan McGinley, 18, were administrators of a Facebook page called Riot in the toon which urged people to kill some daftys .

The Dundee riot page was published during the summer's unrest in England.

Update: Southampton Riots

22nd June 2012. See  article from  guardian.co.uk

A man who used Facebook to try to incite violence and urged others to attack the police and Muslims during the height of last summer's riots has been jailed for three years.

A jury took less than two hours to find Mitchell Stancombe, 21, guilty of encouraging and assisting people to commit violent disorder.

He made three posts on his personal page on the social networking site on 9 August starting with the words: When are we going to start the Southampton riots then? When told to shut up by a friend, he replied: LOL -- do a few coppers in. He then made a post which included an abusive remark about Muslims.The posts, which could be accessed by anyone, were made during widespread rioting in Birmingham, Manchester, Derby, London and Liverpool.

openrightsgroup.org have set up the following petition:

Prime Minister David Cameron announced that social media could be used for good or ill and therefore would 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 .

We know this is a knee-jerk reaction. If it involved suspension of services, it would be unworkable, and would hit people trying to stop disorder or protect themselves. Targeting individuals would need to be supervised by the courts: but the UK usually leaves decisions like this to the Police, rather than courts, as in RIPA.

The Government is focusing on entirely the wrong problem in trying to increase their powers to ban, block or monitor people's communications. Social networks like Twitter are used for a huge array of positive purposes such as warnings of danger and organising clean up projects. Blanket surveillance measures of private communications or increased powers to mine users data would undermine people's freedom to communicate in very damaging ways, and would in no way address the problems at hand. Making laws in haste, with limited analysis and information, to deal with an exceptional problem is likely to create unbalanced laws and abuses of our rights.

...Sign the petition

Police claim they prevented attacks by rioters on the Olympic site and London's Oxford Street after picking up intelligence on social networks.

The Blackberry Messenger (BBM) system is popular among many young people because they think it is both private and secure. Users are invited to join each other's contacts list using a unique PIN, although once they have done so, messages can be distributed to large groups.

Assistant Met Police Commissioner Lynne Owens told a committee of MPs officers learned of possible trouble via Twitter and Blackberry messenger. Owens said officers had been attempting to sift through an overwhelming amount of chitter chatter on social networks during last week's riots in London, but some had proved vital.

But Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin said that on Monday, when disorder spread to 22 of London's 32 boroughs, police were receiving a new piece of intelligence every second. And while much of the information coming via social media was obviously wrong and rather silly , he said police did considered trying to shut the networks down in order to prevent them being used to organise further violence:

We did contemplate, I contemplated, asking the authorities to switch it off. The legality of that is very questionable and additionally, it is also a very useful intelligence asset. So, as a result of that, we did not request that that was turned off, but it is something that we are pursuing as part of our investigative strategy.