Information Madness

BlackBerry will have to close its UK Messenger service if required. It is working with its mobile operators to switch off its popular Messenger Service if they are ordered by authorities to do so during a period of civil unrest in London as the police authorities have singled out BlackBerry system as a vital tool used in the riots in the city last month.

A Research in Motion Executive appeared before the politicians who are investigating the disorder that was on rampage on a large scale sweeping England early last month. The Executive has said that the Company will abide by the orders that are given under special circumstances like a threat of terrorism or mass criminality.

Research in Motion will have to abide by the law and if the instruction is given, it would have to close down the mobile networks in tandem with the mobile operators. The parliamentarians and the police have mentioned that at the time of the unrest, BlackBerry Messenger had been used widely by the looters and rioters to propagate and incite violence.

The Blackberry Messenger Service was preferred over Facebook and Twitter or other social media sites because its messages are encrypted and private. Prime Minister, David Cameron, of England, has said that the United Kingdom will consider disrupting the online social networking during civil unrest periods. Though Research in Motion will have to co-operate with the local law enforcement officials, it is still not clear whether it would hand over the chat logs or other user details to the police authorities.