Responsible Tweeting: Mumbai Provides Teachable Moment

This morning when I checked the news about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, I saw many people on Twitter reporting that the Indian police or government had asked Twitter users to please stop reporting on police and military operations related to the attacks.

That struck me as odd. I’ve heard police and military make similar requests of news organizations (especially live TV) during crisis situations–but asking social media users for this sort of self-censorship? It seemed not merely futile, but perhaps a bit draconian.

It also occurred to me that such an official request might be a milestone in the evolving power dance of the police/military, professional press, and the public. What precedent could this set for future police/public interactions during other kinds of events–like political demonstrations, natural disasters, or food riots?

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comments so far. Add yours.

  • Nikolai Nikolov

    With all respect due Ms. Amy Gahran, I think this time you are wrong.

    In such extreme conditions, the strategy of the authorities require necessary media outage in order the public not to interfere with the tactics of the special squads in charge of the operations.

    And in present where information is available everywhere, not only the public knows – also the ones who shouldn’t – the terrorists themselves.

    Refer to the article in Telegraph: Mumbai attacks: Terrorists monitored British websites using BlackBerry phones

    Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....india.html

    If the attackers know every move of the force against them, they could prioritize and act accordingly. Info was their weapon.

    Sometimes in such extreme conditions, people should get ahead of themselves and listen for once what authorities tell them to, not blog against it. I know it’s hard being bossed, but you have to do it for the others.

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