Question

debate against social menace

Answer 1

Advances in technology have been overwhelmingly beneficial for mankind. From the first tools honed out of flint by prehistoric man, to the latest cures for cancer, every innovation has made our lives that bit easier, longer, more comfortable. And yet, almost inevitably, each new idea comes with a “dark side”. In building his Rocket, George Stephenson would not have envisaged that trains might one day be the implement of choice for stressed financiers contemplating suicide. In his work with electricity and magnetism, Michael Faraday would not have been concerned with the use of electricity in torturing dissidents and political prisoners.

The World Wide Web was 20 years old last year, and yet its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, would not have been held back by the concern that it could enable would-be terrorists to discover recipes for making fertiliser bombs, nor be a communications mechanism for paedophiles.

None of these problems would be proposed as a reason for stockpiling the idea. The benefits to mankind still outweigh the disadvantages. And so it is with social networking - a technology born out of modern communications that enables the sharing of information in an efficient manner with like-minded people.

As with all the technologies described above, it too can be abused. It is important to recognise how this happens, and how to build effective defences, but without shackling its potential with a metaphorical red flag, as Luddites once attempted to do with the motor car.

Carrying out risk assessments, to help identify potential problem areas, and build up a strategy for dealing with them, should be part of every development. If a mobile phone has potential for detonating improvised explosive devices, then the security forces need to have the capability to switch off the network when a risk is identified. This may, indeed, have happened already, in the recent 7/7 attacks in London.

Berners-Lee is one of the pioneer voices in favour of “net neutrality” and says that ISPs should supply “connectivity with no strings attached”, and should neither control nor monitor customers’ browsing activities without consent. He advocates the idea that net neutrality is a kind of human network rights.

There is no doubt that social networking was abused during the recent rioting in England’s major cities. It enabled them to regroup faster than police forces were able to anticipate. These early concerns, however, can be mitigated by infiltrating groups, encouraging other members of the community to shop the yob element within, and by selectively disabling the social network at times of high risk.

Big sticks have to be part of the process. The higher the deterrent, the less likely it is that criminals will re-offend. The most effective way of emptying jails is to increase sentences. I recently spent some time in Kazakhstan, where robust policing is the norm. One method is to drive criminals 20km into the Steppe and leave them to walk home alone.

As the England cricket team reaches the exalted number one position in the world, the sport has worked tirelessly at grass roots level to introduce the sport - and the standards of social behaviour that it embraces - to youngsters. Holiday courses and training sessions for youngsters have never been fuller. 

And the social networks - those same ones accused of being responsible for inciting rioting - are buzzing with youngsters sharing their experiences. Team selections are now posted on Facebook, rather than on the club noticeboard. The Kent Cricket Board has just appointed its first social networking officer.

The use of social networking as an enabler for criminals is a symptom of problems in our society, not the problem in itself. And just as other technological advances in our society, it should be encouraged to flourish as a force for good, while tackling the small minority of users who wish to use it for undesirable reasons.
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