As the riots grip London, it appears the communication of choice between young mobs coordinating violence is Blackberry Messenger.
The maker of instant messaging tool BBM Research in Motion has been forced to issue a statement - via Twitter - saying it will help police with inquiries.
Planning for the escalating violence across the capital took place between groups of youths on the “relatively private world” of BBM according to The Guardian.
The Blackberry is the smartphone of choice for 37 per cent of British teens according to a recent study by Ofcom. And unlike Facebook or Twitter many BBM messages are not able to be traced by the authorities because they are sent privately.
There are also calls for some groups for the whole BBM network to be shut down to try and make it harder for groups to coordinate violent attacks privately.
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Paul Lewis of The Guardian got hold of a Blackberry message that urged people to go to Oxford Circus in central London last night to cause damage to shops and loot. He believes the message is authentic and proves the mob violence is highly organised.
The message reads: 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 soif you see a brother... SALUT!
if you see a fed... SHOOT!
We need more MAN then feds so Everyone run wild, all of london and others are invited! Pure terror and havoc & Free stuff....just smash shop windows and cart out da stuff u want! Oxford Circus!!!!! 9pm, we don't need pussyhole feds to run the streets and put our brothers in jail so tool up,
its a free world so have fun running wild shopping;)
Oxford Circus 9pm if u see a fed stopping a brother JUMP IN!!! EVERYONE JUMP IN niggers will be lurking about, all blacked out we strike at 9:15pm-9:30pm, make sure ur there see you there. REMEMBA DA LOCATION!!! OXFORD CIRCUS!!!
MUST REBROADCAST TO ALL CONTACTS
The Daily Telegraph also reports it has got hold of a message which details how a mob is organising violence in Southampton in the south of England on Friday night.
Twitter has also been blamed for helping spread messages about where the violence was taking place and police told reporters in London officers were investigating messages sent on the public site.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told the BBC some messages on the website had been "really inflammatory" and users could face arrest.
BBM developer RIM issued a statement on Twitter at 3pm British time on Monday saying: "We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."
Paid Content UK also reports the Playstation 3 is being used by mobs to communicate over its network.
In the wake of the Arab Spring where social media was a major catalyst in bringing together protestors there has been pressure on Canadian firm RIM from various Governments.
Some Asian governments put pressure on the developer of BBM Research In Motion in 2010 to allow official access to BBM messages. The Indian government threatened to block use of the 800,000 users in the country because of the fear that BBM could be used to plan terrorist attacks.
The United Arab Emirates was also particularly worried about the use of the devices to spread anti-establishment messages.
Read more on how influential BBM has been for the London riots at the New Scientist.
