Cyber-Riots: London’s Rebels Without a Cause

Ferocious fires and looting louts have become the perceived face of the UK around the world over the last few weeks. Photographs of the House of Reeves furniture store in flames and a woman leaping from her burning apartment have provoked a global emotional outcry as the media voices its opinions on where the blame lies. The Internet has been set ablaze, with theories as ministers, the mayor and the international media lash out at social media as the easy target. Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messaging (BBM) have been criticised as the medium for mass mobilisation for this social anti-social movement, as messages on where to meet, what was happening and how to join were posted on the sites to rally hordes of hooligans.

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who conducted the famous Stanford prison study, analysed the lack of reasoning and the total abrogation of responsibility that occurs in certain social situations to explain how people are persuaded to behave this way. Deindividuation is the process of a “loss of identity or loss of self-consciousness” resulting in loss of “cognitive control over motivations and emotions.” Chaos, disorder and aggression are contagious in group situations and social media is being blamed as the tool that brought people together to behave in this way.

The positive influence of social media during the riots has become overshadowed by the fevered and furious reactions of politicians – such as Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries and Louise Mensch – who are demanding it be restricted. Whilst another Conservative, Andrew Lilico has argued against them, explaining that means of communication can’t be blamed. Live updates helped people find safe routes home and escape from burning buildings; intercepting BBM helped the police prevent further riots occurring; and the video of the attack on the Malaysian student, Ashraf Haziq, went viral, causing Twitter groups to donate money to re-buy his stolen items. Social media has also been used to gather evidence following the riots as Facebook footprints led the police to the perpetrators of two attempts to instigate violence- a tactic the judge called "modern and clever policy… and policing”.

The images of smashed shops and burning buildings transmitted a message to the world that Britain is a place of chaos and brutality. Uploaded instantaneously & inundating social networking sites, these photos – published for the world to see – shattered the quintessential pomp and pageantry of Britain’s fairy-tale Royal Wedding. A darker message of volatile destruction – of an ‘underclass’ uprising – took hold of the global imagination. Russian papers have described the event as a “pogrom”, Italy deemed it urban guerrilla warfare, while Syria and Libya have used it to fault the Coalition government, comparing the UK riots to the condemned violence they experience. China on the other hand, has been criticising the negative effects of our unrestricted internet among other issues. People’s Daily, a Chinese newspaper reported:

"The West have been talking about supporting internet freedom, and oppose other countries' government to control this kind of websites [sic], now we can say they are tasting the bitter fruit [of their complacency] and they can't complain about it,"

Elsewhere, advisory cautions had been issued to travellers, concerns about the UK’s ability to host the 2012 Olympic Games have been expressed and Britain’s immigration policies, policing and economic recovery have been heavily criticised.

To regain control and put a stop to further damage of the national profile David Cameron gave a speech from his constituency in affluent Oxfordshire, where he was stood in front of community-licensed graffiti in a shirt and tie. Unfortunately his efforts were marred by the reluctance to end his Tuscan holiday early, as Twitter lit up claiming he was failing to take his position as Prime Minister and the volatile situation seriously. Using the riots as post hoc evidence to reinforce the Big Society agenda, his speech has also been criticised.

The world’s media has become fascinated by the UK in turmoil, as the destructive mob and the phone-hacking scandal cause Britain’s PR some serious damage. Linking such airs of tyranny, to the theme of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, one BBC reporter observed:

“There’s something rotten about Britain. From the richest and most powerful to the poorest and most excluded, turning in on itself, there is greed, selfishness and immorality.”

The UK has been playing out its woes on the world stage, captivating the media, provoking tempers and igniting social networking sites for better and for worse. The photograph of the army of brooms is a glorious symbol of Britain not only reclaiming the streets but defiantly and determinedly reclaiming its dignity. The huge @riotcleanup efforts were facilitated within in a matter of hours via Twitter, even drawing celebrities out onto the streets to sweep up the destruction. Thousands more immediately responded to clean-up Britain, in direct and heart-warming contrast to the number of people responsible for its break down; police having made around 2000 arrests so far. The burning buildings, violent thugs and frightened citizens may well have arrested the world’s attention, but it is the picture of a defiant Britain with its brooms in the air that spoke back about the state of Britain. This is the Britain we want people to see, a Britain where positive messages outweigh the bad.

As Nadine Dorries and Louise Mensch call for a crackdown on social media, it is worth asking whether killing the messenger is the solution to the problem. Whether “looters are scum” or whether “rioting is the language of the unheard”- as Martin Luther King put it, people are communicating on social issues. Cameron, retorting to his “Broken Britain” rhetoric, at least looks at possible causes for the disorder, although perhaps his “Big Society” is a label for something that already exists. For the image of brooms brandished in the air is a triumph for social networking sites and also for Britain’s PR. The schadenfreude surrounding the scandals of Britain is swept away with the debris, as Britain’s pride and determination pulls the country back together with the final photograph of the 2011 riots.