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The Pirate Party movement believes that the way information is shared and controlled is a key fight in 21st century politics. The Internet gives us tools to participate in a more active and equal way in culture, political life and the economy - if we are able to grasp them. These tools, which we could only have only dreamt about two decades ago, have opened up a new front in politics. Every key story this year has had a digital dimension; from the riots to “Hackgate”, from the Middle East to failings in our education system.
The Coalition Has No Digital Rights Policy - Pirate Party UK
For the past eight months, the world has watched, captivated, as from one country to the next, youth have manipulated the digital tools that have become part and parcel of their everyday lives to serve their activism. The world too has witnessed as, in each country, state actors have made various attempts to quash the use of such tools. In each case, governments have learned from what came before.
Democracies learn from Mubarak's example - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
(CNN) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron thinks he's found some culprits to blame in the recent riots that have rocked London and other cities -- Facebook and Twitter. Saying the "free flow of information" can sometimes be a problem, Cameron's government has summoned those two social-networking sites, as well as Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, for a meeting to discuss their roles during the violent outbreaks. "Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organized via social media," Cameron said Thursday during an address to Parliament.
British PM proposes social media ban for rioters - CNN.com
British Prime Minister Does a 180 on Internet Censorship | Electronic Frontier Foundation
After several days of destructive riots throughout the UK, British Prime Minister David Cameron is practically tripping over himself in his eagerness to sacrifice liberty for security. In a speech before an emergency session of Parliament today, Cameron highlighted concern over rioters’ use of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter: ...when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them. So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to 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.UK to Twitter, Facebook & RIM: We Won't Ban Social Media
In a meeting Thursday with representatives from Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry-maker RIM, British officials made it clear that they will not restrict social media use during times of chaos. “This was a dialogue about working together to keep people safe rather than about imposing new restrictions on Internet services,” a Facebook representative said in a statement. Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reason to fear otherwise when, following riots that swept through the UK earlier this month, he told Parliament that the government was examining whether to ban suspected troublemakers from social media. In anticipation of the meeting between UK officials and representatives of Twitter, Facebook and RIM — all of which make tools that were used by some to coordinate violence during the riots — human rights groups wrote an open letter to the British Home Secretary regarding Cameron’s comments.
Blackberry would close UK service in unrest if ordered
LONDON | Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:06am EDT LONDON (Reuters) - BlackBerry said on Thursday it would close down its hugely popular messenger service in Britain if ordered to at times of civil unrest, after police singled out the system as a key tool used in last month's riots. Appearing before politicians investigating the large-scale disorder that swept Britain in early August, executive Stephen Bates of Blackberry-owner Research in Motion said the company would comply with orders given in special circumstances such as threats of terrorism or mass criminality. "From our perspective we comply with the law and if the instruction ... would be to close down the mobile networks which is the method by which that would be enacted, we would then comply, we would then work with those mobile operators to help them meet the obligations as defined by that act," Bates said.Twitter study casts doubts on ministers' post-riots plan
Twitter use during the riots. Click image to see graphic Analysis of more than 2.5m Twitter messages relating to the riots in England has cast doubt on the rationale behind government proposals to ban people from social networks or shut down their websites in times of civil unrest. A preliminary study of a database of riot-related tweets, compiled by the Guardian, appears to show Twitter was mainly used to react to riots and looting. Timing trends drawn from the data question the assumption that Twitter played a widespread role in inciting the violence in advance, an accusation also levelled at the rival social networks Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger. The unique database contains tweets about the riots sent throughout the disorder, which began in Tottenham, north London, on 6 August.
After rumors of a possible protest intended to disrupt service reached BART officials yesterday, they pursued a number of strategies to ensure that didn't happen. One of those strategies, cutting off cell phone service to passengers, has left riders outraged, and at least one expert calling for an FCC investigation. BART police, however, say the move was necessary to ensure the safety of all. According to BART spokesperson Linton Johnson, both wi-fi and cell service was shut off to the Civic Center platform to the Transbay Tube Thursday night, beginning at around 5:15 PM ( According to CNET, the shutoff lasted from 4 PM-7 PM ).
BART Defends Decision To Cut Off Cell Service After Civil Rights, FCC Concerns Raised: News: SFAppeal
A rail transit provider in the United States disabled mobile phone services to prevent a planned protest on Thursday, attracting criticism and unflattering comparisons to crackdowns on dissent in the Middle East. Demonstrators in northern California's Bay Area had planned a protest to condemn the shooting death of Charles Hill, who was killed on July 3 after Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officers responded to complaints about a drunk man at a station in the city of San Francisco. Hill was fatally shot in the torso - police said he had lunged with a knife - and protesters responded eight days later with a demonstration that shut down three San Francisco BART stations. BART's police force had been criticised before, in 2009, after a white officer responding with several colleagues to a complaint restrained an unarmed black man on the ground of a train platform and then fatally shot him in the back.
US railway blocks phones to quash protest - Americas - Al Jazeera English
(Robin Weiner/AP) As politicians in London debate whether or not social media services should be shut down to prevent possible crimes, an American transit company did just that. On Thursday, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) interrupted cell phone service on its platforms to prevent a possible protest. Last month, hundreds of people turned out at BART stations to protest the July 3 killing of a man during a confrontation with transit police. The demonstrations turned violent. In a statement released Friday, the government-run transit company said it allowed expressive activities, protected by the First Amendment in its public areas.
BART San Francisco cut cell services to avert protest - BlogPost - The Washington Post
The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today. "BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon. Activists had planned to protest the fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill , who BART police said went after them with a knife before an officer shot him on July 3. "Organizers planning to disrupt BART service...stated they would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART police," said the original BART statement .
S.F. subway muzzles cell service during protest | InSecurity Complex - CNET News
Statement on temporary wireless service interruption in select BART stations on Aug. 11 Organizers planning to disrupt BART service on August 11, 2011 stated they would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART Police. A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees and demonstrators. BART temporarily interrupted service at select BART stations as one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform. Cell phone service was not interrupted outside BART stations. In addition, numerous BART Police officers and other BART personnel with radios were present during the planned protest, and train intercoms and white courtesy telephones remained available for customers seeking assistance or reporting suspicious activity.
Statement on temporary wireless service interruption in select BART stations on Aug. 11
An article from Bloomberg published on 23 August 2011 has linked technology, supplied by a business that was part of Nokia Siemens Networks between April 2007 and March 2009, with human rights abuses in Bahrain. The article alleges that a monitoring center was supplied by a Siemens business that subsequently became part of Nokia Siemens Networks when it was formed in 2007. Nokia Siemens Networks subsequently divested this monitoring center business in March 2009 and no longer provides this technology to any country. Nokia Siemens Networks is aware of allegations that monitoring centers, used around the world by virtually every government for legitimate law enforcement purposes, have been abused in some countries. Nokia Siemens Networks has stated clearly that such abuse, if it has occurred, is wrong and is contrary to its Code of Conduct and accepted international norms.