London, Aug 25(ANI): A new study of a database of Twitter messages regarding the UK riots has questioned the rationale behind government proposals to ban people from social networks or shut down the social networking sites during civil unrest.
According to The Guardian, an analysis of over 2.5 million tweets sent between August 6 midnight and 8 p.m. on August 17, suggests that people used Twitter mainly to react to incidents of riots and looting.
The assessment came ahead of a meeting between British Home Secretary Theresa May and Facebook, Twitter and Research in Motion representatives on measures the companies could take to help prevent future disorder.
Data's timing trends counter the argument that social networks, including Twitter Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger played a widespread role in inciting the violence in the UK.
The study also revealed that Twitter was extensively used to co-ordinate a citizens' movement of cleaning the streets after the disorder had subsided.
According to the study, over 206,000 tweets were related to attempts to clear the debris on the streets left after four- day riots.
British Prime Minister David Cameron had earlier said the British Government would do "whatever it takes" to restore law and order in the country, and that a review was under way to assess whether it was justified to prevent rioters from using social networks.
Metropolitan Police had later said it had considered banning social networking sites during the UK riots. (ANI)
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