Facebook's a riot, literally

David Swan
Monday, 14 September 2009 10:03

Your IT - Home IT

Fresh from saving two girls from an Adelaide drain, the changing face of Facebook has taken another turn after the website was used to organise a racially-charged riot in NSW last week.

New South Wales Police believe that Muslim youths used Facebook to organise a riot in Sydney's west last week.

More than 150 trouble-makers gathered in Cumberland Road, Auburn, on Tuesday night, forcing police to call in 100 officers, the riot squad and a helicopter.

The stand-off came after police raided four homes of people believed to be involved in Middle Eastern organised crime.

Opposition Police spokesman Mike Gallacher's office revealed one of the Facebook updates read: "Kefeirs raiding brother's house, everyone get down hier!!"

Facebook doesn’t feature spell check.

The spokesman also said that laws preventing the use of a mobile to call or text others to incite a riot neglected to cover social networking sites such as Facebook.

He further commented, "I don't think it is an intentional move by people to get around the law - it is the way a lot of younger people contact one another and it would appear there is a loophole in the law."

"Using Facebook and Twitter and modern technology gives a quicker way of getting messages out to a larger number of people."

More than 150 people responded to the Facebook posts, as they then rallied impromptu groups together in Auburn for the confrontation.

One update identified police as 'non-believers' - who were raiding a brother's home.

The events mirror those seen in Iran earlier this year, as passionate protestors congregated thanks largely to their use of Twitter. This riot in particular also reminds me of Cronulla a few years ago, which involved SMS messages being used to organise a riot not dissimilar to the one seen last week in Auburn.