The civil unrest in the UK has put social networking and technology on notice, particularly from officials who are saying that these are the culprits that have led to the rising death toll and persistent rioting. It is because of this that, even in jest, police aren’t taking chances and arresting even those who are trying to have the slightest bit of fun amidst a lot of chaos.

A 20-year-old Essex man was arrested for, believe it or not, coordinating a water gun fight over Facebook and BlackBerry (News - Alert) Messenger.

One could argue that this guy was just engaging in a popular pastime, as the Guardian points out, organized water gun fights, kind of like a flash mob, were popular back in 2008. But, all things considered, timing is of the essence and, given this man’s ill-timed fun, he was arrested for “encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offense.”

The UK is on high alert after the riots that broke out following the police shooting of Mark Duggan. BBM was the communication method of choice during the riots.

The man's arrest has prompted a lot of fury on Twitter (News - Alert). Many hopped on to tweet and asked if the report was a joke. Essex police responded via Twitter that “there may be more involved” in the case, but did not elaborate.

The young gent has since been bailed and is scheduled to appear before magistrates early next month.

While Twitter was one of the sites to blame for the looting and rioting in the UK, police recently decided to follow the old adage, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” and used the site to post personal information on arrested looters.

The death toll from the English riots has risen to five, after a man who was attacked by a mob as he tried to stamp out a fire died in hospital. Another wave of rioters and looters faced the courts last night, as the government discussed measures to prevent a repeat of this week's violent scenes. The dissemination of their information via Twitter is apparently one of them.

More than 1,500 people have now been arrested in towns and cities hit by rioting earlier last week and more than 500 have been charged with offences related to the four days of disorder.

Prime Minister David Cameron has made it his priority to find ways to stop the use of social media tools like Facebook (News - Alert), Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger, as he feels these are the usual suspects that led to the riots in the first place.

Cameron added that the London riots had been “organized via social media”, adding that the government was “working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”

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