As disorder spreads across Britain, I believe it is now time to ban all printed media and broadcast news.

Rioting, which started in North London on Saturday in reaction to the shooting of Mark Duggan, has since spread to the rest of the capital and to other cities across the country as a result of copycat violence fanned by national news media outlets broadcasting scenes of chaos over the world.

Of course, I’m joking. I’m also increasingly exasperated at attempts by the kinds of organisations above to attach blame to social media for violence on the streets. The Telegraph state that “technology incited the looting and violence,” the BBC asks if “social media fuelled the weekend’s violence in London?” and The Daily Mail speak of the “fears that violence was fanned by Twitter”. All of which is a bit like making the none-too-bold statement that a communications tool has been – shock-horror – allowing people to communicate with each other.

Big deal.

Yes, social media and mobiles allow people to spread news for the purposes of evil. They also allow people to spread news for the purposes of good. And it allows people to spread nothing more than pure stupidity.

But look at Riot Clean-up, the police using Flickr to try and identify looters and shaming blogs such as Photoshoplooter and try telling me that social media doesn’t mirror society. If news organisations really think that a worldwide communications tool can be blamed for rioting, then logic suggests that they should also look as themselves for the similar part they play in fuelling such events. Sadly for some, it seems that logic rarely plays a part in news reporting of this kind.

by Paul Barnett