News

Mrs Mensch said the blackouts would stop rumours about trouble spreading
online, which cause fear among residents and trigger unnecessary calls to
police.

She insisted it was just the same as the authorities interrupting road or rail
services briefly during emergencies.

But her comments, made on Twitter itself, prompted criticism that her idea was
unnecessary and unworkable as well as authoritarian.

During the past week many claims about where violence has broken out have been
made, and then disseminated widely, on social networking sites such as
Twitter and Facebook.

But although many have turned out to be incorrect or even malicious, they
still led to 999 calls from worried homeowners and businesses and even
police attending scenes of supposed riots.

Mrs Mensch, the Tory MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire who is also a
bestselling novelist, said that there were many false rumours about violence
in Wellingborough that “caused alarm and fake callouts”, and “stretched
resources”.

She wrote on her Twitter feed
on Thursday night: “Northamptonshire Police advise me that much of
their time and resources were wasted answering false alarms due to soc media
rumours.

“At the time, tweeted people should think hard before putting ... >>>