Twitter was a ‘force for good,’ which helped in mobilising the post-riot clean up, according to a study funded by Joint Information Systems Committee (JIC).
The research group, which included academicians from Universities of Manchester, Leicester, St Andrews, Wolverhampton and UCL, after analysing the tweets that were sent during the riots, denied that social networking sites played a crucial role in inciting and organising riots in England.
Professor Rob Procter from the University’s Manchester e-Research Centre said in August this year, social unrest spilled over onto the streets of English cities and the summer riots were the largest public disorder events in recent history. "But our study found no evidence of significance in the available data that would justify such a course action in respect to Twitter," Procter added.
Rioting broke out in Tottenham two days after the police fatally shot at 29-year-old Mark Duggan. This caused British Prime Minister David Cameron to announce that he would consider a ban on social networking to help put an end to the riots.
