As British mainstream media struggle to keep up with the developments in London, social media companies based in the US are waging a different kind of battle on the Internet - that of protecting their services reputation as an instrument for change.
Suffice to say, that the events in London are not exactly what they had in mind:
"Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh said: "Social media and other methods have been used to organise these levels of greed and criminality."
He described some messages posted on social media sites as "really inflammatory, inaccurate" and said police would consider arresting people using Twitter in relation to incitement to violence.
TechCrunch was quick to rebuff the report with its own piece published on the Washington Post.
"But while Twitter has largely been the venue of spectators to violence and is a handy public venue for journalists to observe, it would appear the non-public BlackBerry BBM messaging network has been the method of choice for organising it."
It's idiotic to point out these online tools as well as the hapless Blackberry as the culprits responsible for what is happening in London now. It's like blaming the knife for the murder, or blaming people from talking with one another to spread an idea.
