Responding to reports that its service was widely used by vandals in the riots that have spread across the country in recent days, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has said that while it may not be shutting down its BBM messaging service, the company will assist police in "any way" it can.
Violence first began in London on Saturday night after the shooting of suspected gangster Mark Duggan in Tottenham, but riots soon spread to other parts, including Hackney, Croydon, Ealing, Peckham and more. Police said that violence broke out in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol and Nottingham.
Violence in different parts, however, were similar in many respects, according to reports. The rioters were mostly teenagers and young adults from different backgrounds. They all raided shops and businesses and took away electrical goods, cigarettes, clothes and alcohol, before vandalising those.
Authorities and commentators have said that handheld devices may have helped in coordinating the riots.
Former Scotland Yard commander Roy Ramm was quoted by The Daily Mail, saying that the Metropolitan Police could lose control of London’s streets. "That has to be a possibility and the Home Secretary and (Met) commissioner are going to have to make some difficult decisions."
He added that "these people [rioters] can mass and change direction very quickly and the police tactics are being subverted." with the use of mobile phones and social networks.
Though Twitter and Facebook have been immediately placed under the scanner for their role in the riots, it is BlackBerry’s free messaging service BBM that has drawn the most attention of commentators.
Smartphone usage in the UK has rapidly increased with more than a quarter of adults (27%) and almost half of teenagers (47%) now own a smartphone, according to Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report.
The report said that BlackBerry handsets are used by the majority (37%) of British teens.
The Guardian reported that "unlike Twitter or Facebook, many BBM messages are untraceable by the authorities".
The paper also posted a BBM broadcast that it says was sent on Sunday. It said: "Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, Bare SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!) fuck the feds we will send them back with OUR riot! >:O Dead the ends and colour war for now so if you see a brother… SALUT! if you see a fed… SHOOT!"
RIM spoke up in response yesterday. The company wrote on its official UK BlackBerry Twitter account: "We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."
Later, RIM’s managing director, global sales and regional marketing, Patrick Spence issued an official response, adding on to the first tweet. He said: "As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces."
The company has not clarified on how it plans assist authorities.
Meanwhile, Commander Christine Jones has said that the Met will follow up evidence in the coming days. Jones said: "We are using tactics flexibly to respond to the disorder we are still seeing in different areas of the capital. Anyone involved in criminality should be under no illusion that we will pursue you. We have been making arrests all evening and have a team working during the night examining CCTV images. We will follow up evidence in the coming days in order to bring anyone else responsible for criminal acts to justice."
So far, over 300 people have been arrested for their involvement in the riots.
While some news outlets have suggested Twitter may have been used to coordinate rioters, on Tuesday morning it was used to coordinate a clean-up operation. A Twitter account and hashtag of RiotCleanUp were created to bring people together to tidy up parts of London that had been damaged by Monday night’s rioting.