Twitter refuses to suspend British rioters' accounts

Twitter has refused to suspend the accounts of British mass protestors, citing the importance of "freedom of expression," the Telegraph reported on Wednesday. Like the North African revolts, British protests are scheduled and coordinated through a wide range of social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. Scotland Yard, which is tracing calls to protests on the internet, asked Twitter management to block the accounts of the rioters because of the incitement to violence. Twitter however rejected the request, referring to its co-founder, Biz Stone's post where he said that "freedom of expression is essential," the Telegraph said. "Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them...We don't always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content," Stone said in his post. According to the latest police statistics, 768 rioters have been detained in London since the protests began on Saturday and almost 200 of them have been accused of disrupting public order, destroying property, and theft. Violence began in the British capital's northern district of Tottenham on Saturday over the fatal shooting of a young man by police. On Sunday and Monday, it spread to other areas in London and Birmingham.