Two men (aged 23 and 24) have been charged with inciting to commit violent disorder and are due in court on Friday. Gwent Police have arrested a 25 year old man on suspicion of encouraging or assisting the commission of a public order offence. Dyfed-Powys Police have arrested a 15 year old boy (on suspicion of committing incitement to violent disorder after posting on Facebook) and a 21 year old woman (on suspicion of encouraging public disorder by mobile phone messaging).
A 31 year old and 21 year old had earlier been arrested (on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of a public order offence and for incitement to commit an indictable offence), with a 27 year old receiving a caution.
An official stated that -
South Wales Police is continuing to monitor social networking sites and anyone who uses them to attempt to generate disorder in our communities will be traced and dealt with.The BBC elsewhere notes that
Some Twitter postings, such as one saying: "Let's show London how it's done," are being investigated by officers to see whether they could be seen to incite disorder.The UK Prime Minister is reported as launching an investigation of stopping people communicating via social media when "we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality". Others have gone further, proposing that messaging networks be shut down (nationally or on a regional basis) if there is a recurrence of unrest.
The spokeswoman said these sorts of comments had been saved and the author sent the following message: "It's an offence to commit or encourage riot. Your message has been referred for consideration for criminal investigation."
SMS, voice, social network and other services are subject to UK law, in the same way that their Australian counterparts are subject to Australian telecommunications law. Unsurprisingly, some service providers have been quick to indicate that they will cooperate with the authorities. The TeaMp0isoN hackers have defaced the InsideBlackBerry blog with a statement expressing their displeasure at the willingness of Research in Motion (RIM) to assist UK police in identify 'looters and rioters'. Authorities are meanwhile engaged in information gathering cum public name & shame exercises, publishing images of alleged rioters - some of whom may merely have been gawkers or unfortunate passers by - on Flickr and on large-screen displays being driven through affected areas.
