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Britain’s government has debating whether to shut down social media sites times of public disorder. Prime Minister David Cameron has said police need extra powers to curb them, even he praised their use in the protests that led the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s government in Egypt earlier this year. Social networking sites FaceBook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger were used extensively by rioters across England in the country’s social unrest. They enabled looters and gangs to organise during the riots and carry out attacks on police and property. Two men were jailed four years for setting up a Facebook event entitled "Smash Down Northwich Town". of the men took part in any rioting.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg dispelled that his government would act social media, saying: “We are not going to become like Iran or China [and] suddenly start people off.” He added: “The government did not seek any additional to close down social media networks." Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that social media a more positive in the riots in organising street clean-ups and criticising the rioters. A Facebook said their site was useful to the police as a valuable intelligence in gaining evidence to convict criminals. A Twitter spokeswoman said: "Twitter is an effective to distribute updates and dispel rumours in of crisis or emergency."