British police use social websites to hunt London rioters

London, Aug 11: Soon after the media reports describing

like Facebook and Twitter helped in spreading the riots in Britain, it seems like security authorities are using the same technique to capture the rioters.

British police have uploaded 25 photos of youths breaking into shops and lobbing missiles on photo sharing website Flickr. Police authorities asked users to identify these culprits and help to put them behind bars.

Also, internet users are clicking photos of London rioters and posting on social networking sites. Some of the users recorded the videos of masked gangs looting and hurling missiles and posted on video sharing website YouTube, making it easier for security authorities to catch the culprits.

Similarly, a group started a web page called 'Catch A Looter' on blog-hosting website Tumblr where users can upload photos of London rioters. Currently, users have added more than hundred photos from the London riots.

The creators of this web page asked users to inform authorities if they recognised any rioter on the site. But, brains behind this project said that they are facing difficulty in keeping the data as users are trying to upload hundreds of photos every hour.

Meanwhile, the photos and videos on social sites revealed rioters looting shops, burning vehicles and hurling missiles. Some of the videos featured rioters walking out of shops with electrical goods, clothes and bottles.

OneIndia News