Public Control

A planned protest of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) fizzled Thursday after officials reportedly cut cell phone services at some stations.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson told a KTVU reporter, who had noticed the disruption, that the public relations department had suggested that phone service be shut down.

Another BART spokesman, Jim Allison, reportedly admitted that the tactic had been “part of a larger strategy.”

But Allison later claimed that he had been mistaken and phone service was not blocked.

[...]

The group No Justice, No BART had called for the protest following a string of killings by BART police.

[...]

“They didn’t try to shut down the protest. They simply turned off the cell service so it couldn’t become viral,” [criminologist Casey] Jordan explained. “It really is just a cost/benefit analysis of where your freedom of speech begins to threaten the public safety.”

  Raw Story

A protest of BART threatens public safety?

James Allison, the deputy chief communications officer for BART, told Cnet News that mobile services were disabled in four San Francisco stations from 4pm to 7pm local time.

[...]

"This may well affect the legality of BART's actions ... but it doesn't affect the impact," said David Wagner, a computer science professor at the University of California - Berkeley who has written about wireless communications security. "In this day and age, deliberately disrupting cellphone service is dangerous to public safety, no matter how it is done."

  alJazeera

Indeed, the public safety was more at risk by not having phone service than by anything the protesters might be doing.

I assume there will be a legal challenge to this action.

David Cameron has told parliament that in the wake of this week's riots the government is looking at banning people from using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook if they are thought to be plotting criminal activity.

The prime minister said the government will review whether it is possible to stop suspected rioters spreading online messages, in his opening statement during a Commons debate on Thursday on the widespread civil disorder for which MPs were recalled from their summer recess.

  UK Guardian

This is the future.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.