On the Censorship of Social Media
An English PEN commentary on the idea that social media could be temporarily shut down in response to the #UKriots. We wrote lots of tweets on the issue, collected here.
Following the appalling riots throught the UK over the past week, some politicians have suggested that social media services like Twitter and Blackberry Messenger, which are known to have been used by the rioters, could be blocked or temporarily shut down in moments of crisis.
UK riots: tougher powers could curb TwitterIn an emergency Commons statement, the Prime Minister said that extended police powers would be considered, such as the ability to demand that suspected criminals remove face masks.- Among those calling for restrictions were the parliamentarian and novelist Louise Mensch MP, a member of the House of Commons CMS Committee.
- This form of intervention has serious consequences, which we encounter every day through our international campaigns for Writers in Prison. So we posted a few tweets in response.
- When an organisation such as PEN takes a strong liberal line on free speech, there are always legitimate concerns. We believe it is inconsistent to argue for free expression without also using that free expression ourselves to condemn destructive behaviour (the writer Kenan Malik is very good on this issue).
- Our tweets elicited a few pertinent additions from our 4,240 loyal twitter followers.
From the point of view of the advocacy work we do, this practical consideration is very important. The gleeful way in which Iran and China have jumped on the #UKriots issue is a preview of the sanctimonius accusations of hypocrisy that PEN will have to negotiate, next time we campaign against abuses of free expression in those countries.
