The government is this week beginning discussions with Research In Motion (operators of Blackberry Messenger), and owners of social networking sites such as Facebook, with view to blocking the use of the technology to those suspected of organising riots.
The danger is that we may all lose our right to use freely and without constraint, technologies which have evolved without moderation and to embrace free speech.
It is entirely the wrong policy for Government to impose monitoring and restrictions on technologies used by the vast public majority to good intention. Efforts should instead be focused on working to calm and relax pockets of social unrest, to prevent violent eruptions like those seen in the recent riots.

This is a critical chapter in our continued freedom of the use of Blackberry Messenger and social networking sites, without government monitoring, censorship or control.