August 13, 2011 05:41 am EDT

UK teen arrested for illegal BBM, social media crackdown gains steam

Lending further gravity to the proposed crackdown being bandied about in British parliament, an Essex teen has been arrested for sending a BBM that ran afoul of the Serious Crime Act of 2007. The 18-year old, now free on bail, allegedly used the service to encourage copycat attacks of the violent rioting that's swept London, and is set to appear in court on September 1st. It's the second known case to put RIM's private messaging service -- "popular among urban teenagers" as a cheap texting alternative -- in the UK's legal hotseat. For its part, the Canadian electronics maker has since reached out to police, promising to aid the investigation "in any way [it] can." Although no decision has yet been made to extend law enforcement's powers over social media services, such as Twitter and Facebook, arrests like these seem to indicate a murky free speech future.

UK teen arrested for illegal BBM, social media crackdown gains steam originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PermalinkThe Inquirer | The Telegraph ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/13/uk-teen-arrested-for-illegal-bbm-social-media-crackdown-gains-s/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget