London Riots organised by BBM

**arieh** · 08-08-2011, 06:26 AM

Interesting piece by TechCrunch here. It's true too.

How Blackberry, not Twitter, fuelled the fire under London’s riots

**ScoobyDoo555** · 08-08-2011, 09:18 AM

Now, us UK-dwellers have been informed that it was Facebook.....

Means to NO end though..... as a colleague on FB stated...

"Don't quite understand looting whilst rioting. At what point do you stop standing up for what you believe in and decide life would be better with a free radio alarm clock?"

**ChrisLloyd** · 08-08-2011, 10:18 AM

London riots: how BlackBerry Messenger played a key role | Media | guardian.co.uk

**Laura Knotek** · 08-08-2011, 12:20 PM

RIM to turn in BlackBerry-using looters after London riots â€¢ The Register

BlackBerry UK has broken silence over the role its devices played in helping disaffected London yoof co-ordinate riots in Tottenham, Brixton, Enfield and Walthamstow this weekend.

The smash 'n' burn attacks on High Street stores and vehicles on Saturday and yesterday came days after the death of Mark Duggan, who was killed in an alleged shoot out with police.

But unlike the Arab spring protests, which used the very public social media forums Facebook and Twitter to rally the troops, BlackBerry's version of IM was the favoured mode in the capital according to anecdotal evidence.

BlackBerry UK – the official Twitter account for the troubled smartphone maker RIM – made a move away from dishing out technical advice to users.

"We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can," it stated.

Catching the fire-starters retrospectively is possible as RIM can pass over decrypted versions of BBM chatter.

The reasons the kids love BBM is that it's cheap, quick and confidential. Oh and it has the backing of JayZ, the hip hop mogul who is one of BlackBerry's biggest fans.

Ofcom's annual report found 37 per cent of UK teenagers said that BlackBerry was their primary means of communication - a big turnaround for a technology seen recently as the most corporate of handsets and services.

Why the sneaker-wearing arsonists needed BBM, Twitter or anything else to co-ordinate the attacks is anyone's guess, as the police helicopters hovering over Brixton for hours on Sunday night were a tell-tale sign that trouble had spread from north of the river. ®

**Tre Lawrence** · 08-08-2011, 12:46 PM

They are gonna turn over decrypted BBM transcripts? Interesting.

**ChrisLloyd** · 08-08-2011, 12:51 PM

Lewisham and Hackney are now currently suffering 'unrest' according to the BBC, and once again it's rumoured that a BBM message was heavily involved in the 'spontaneity' of this development.

**Kiddello** · 08-08-2011, 01:02 PM

London is crazy right now. Pockets of riots are springing up and the police cannot keep up. A quite a few radio callers are stating that sporadic riots are being organised over BBM.

**araLe-tot** · 08-08-2011, 02:31 PM

What about all the BlackBerry's that are being used in like Africa and Libya and stuff to facilitate the sales of weapons?

**blue81to** · 08-08-2011, 03:06 PM

They don't need a warrant or something to ease-drop on peoples bbm?

If someone was using Microsoft IM, Yahoo IM, Whatsaap, liveprofile, etc. could they ease-drop on that as easily as they could bbm? I mean it seems that they cant read bbm messages without RIM's help. But aren't there some legal issues with that? Does bbm create a bottle neck where large groups can be monitored with RIMs help. Like, if it was liveprofile, could they get the transcripts as easily?

**rbayford** · 08-08-2011, 03:56 PM

Aparantly BBM has been shut down in London from 7pm tonight to 6am tomorrow morning.
I hope RIM can identify the people who are both organising and taking part in these horific incidents of violence, I'm sure that we can safely safe 99% of these rioters will be using BIS and as such RIM will have complete access to any information.

I can honestly say tonight that I am ashamed to be British!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**Rootbrian** · 08-08-2011, 08:33 PM

So many different news stories, read them all and then decide. Toronto star didn't even mention BBM. All they mentioned was social media.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**kevinnugent** · 08-08-2011, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Rootbrian

So many different news stories, read them all and then decide. Toronto star didn't even mention BBM. All they mentioned was social media.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Blackberry UK have officially confirmed it and are cooperating with the authorities to apprehend the guilty parties.

**medicinILL** · 08-08-2011, 09:55 PM

Oh man, that's crazy. I live under a rock so this is the first I've heard of this. Insane how some people can use things on such a big scale

**qbnkelt** · 08-09-2011, 02:28 AM

BBM has been acting strangely for a friend of mine in the UK. We've barely been able to communicate over the weekend. And last night BBM just stopped.
I feel for the shopowners whose livelihoods are being destroyed by bands of thugs. London is one of my favourite cities. England is one of my favourite contries.
Such horrible thing to be happening there. I hope those involved get the full available punishment.

**Derwent Graphite** · 08-09-2011, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by rbayford

I can honestly say tonight that I am ashamed to be British!

Please don't say that. There are a-holes everywhere in this world, and they'll continue to exist for a long time to come.

**Wretch 12** · 08-09-2011, 02:59 AM

This is the burden of being able to share information so easily.

It's good that RIM are co-operating with the authorities and are temporarily disabling services in the affected areas, RIM could've just disregarded this entire incident but they're risking customers/service for the sake of ethics. I wonder how many other rival services would do something like this.

Furthermore, it's great that social media is being used positively (incl. BBM) to help rectify the damage caused by the 'rioters' in London, such as the riot cleanup, which probably has already followed with a bunch of BBM groups helping arrange the cleanups.

**qbnkelt** · 08-09-2011, 03:11 AM

Originally Posted by rbayford

I can honestly say tonight that I am ashamed to be British!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Please....no. This is a small group of people comparatively speaking. I love England, always have. People are not seeing the whole of the British people in the same light as these thugs.
Hope you and yours are safe.

**Wretch 12** · 08-09-2011, 04:31 AM

Originally Posted by Qbnkelt

Please....no. This is a small group of people comparatively speaking. I love England, always have. People are not seeing the whole of the British people in the same light as these thugs.
Hope you and yours are safe.

This, people keep saying that - but it's still a minority (not a majority) who are involved in this riots.

**bigun1952** · 08-09-2011, 04:38 AM

I live in the north of England and my BB services have been unavailable for 2 days but it is sporadic as some have access and others have not.

**daveycrocket** · 08-09-2011, 05:03 AM

I live in Suffolk about 100 miles from London, I feel for all those suffering at the hands of these criminals, I have worked in prisons and am aware of the mentallity. Most of this will be gang culture drug related in some way. I have to say I feel proud to be British as like most of our world we can be open about our difficulties. I also feel proud that RIMM is the only company thus far to offer help to law and order over this issue. Did they cause it, no, of course not that's just plain silly.

**kevinnugent** · 08-09-2011, 05:29 AM

From reports here, they were using BBM to rally crowds and direct the flow of the gangs. That's why RIM were involved. No other reason.

**Rootbrian** · 08-09-2011, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by kevinnugent

From reports here, they were using BBM to rally crowds and direct the flow of the gangs. That's why RIM were involved. No other reason.

Just because blackberry messenger was used, doesn't mean RIM's staff were involved or supporting it.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**ScoobyDoo555** · 08-09-2011, 05:38 AM

Can't be true - according to you lot, as soon as use actually USE a Blackberry, you've got to perform a battery-pull.

Haven't seen any footage of looters/rioters of with their phones in pieces....

Although several phone shops were looted..... perhaps they were stealing Android and iPhones.....

Who knows?

<that, Ladies and Gents, is referred to as sarcasm>

DAn

**kevinnugent** · 08-09-2011, 05:38 AM

I didn't suggest they were, Rootbrian. I just suggested they were involved with the authorities to help catch these pr*cks, but obviously were involved because of BBM.

Now, I read people are using Twitter to help with the cleanup efforts. Good to see technology used for good.

**daveycrocket** · 08-09-2011, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by ScoobyDoo555

Can't be true - according to you lot, as soon as use actually USE a Blackberry, you've got to perform a battery-pull.

Haven't seen any footage of looters/rioters of with their phones in pieces....

Although several phone shops were looted..... perhaps they were stealing Android and iPhones.....

Who knows?

<that, Ladies and Gents, is referred to as sarcasm>

DAn

Now that is funny