The latest absurdity from the British panopticon surveillance society? Arresting someone for planning a water fight:
A man will appear before magistrates next month for allegedly trying to organise a mass water fight via his mobile phone.I'm wondering what the offence supposedly being encouraged here is. Having fun, perhaps? Being young in a public place? Or are the British police really trying to argue that any large gathering of people is a criminal conspiracy? If so, I'd like them to do something about those 650 people meeting in Westminster...The prime minister said last week that the government would investigate whether social networking platforms should be shut down if they helped to "plot" crime in the wake of the riots.
The 20-year-old from Colchester was arrested on Friday after Essex police discovered the alleged plans circulating on the BlackBerry Messenger service and Facebook.
The unnamed man has been charged with "encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence" under the 2007 Serious Crime Act, police said.
