Social media isn’t just great for starting "social unrest," it’s proving to be quite helpful for quashing it too. Not long after the bricks began to fly in London's latest kerfuffle, locals angry over raging mobs scrambled to assist the police in their attempt to identify street-fighters and free-for-all hooligans. Swarms of rioters are being summoned to courts while police work to hush the streets and refurbish neighborhoods.Now with more than 1,000 people charged over the chaos, a few citizen groups continue to provide web-based rioter identification platforms, in hopes of being good subjects, maintaining the country's pursuit of order, and keeping their neighborhoods safe.I connected with the managing director of Zavilia.com, a rioter-ID website that has turned information over to the police, to get some idea of where the crowd-sourcing Big-Brother trend is going.Motherboard: What drove you to start Zavilla?I noticed there were many images on the Internet of rioters, but I didn’t recognize anybody. I knew someone out there must know these people, and so, with the help of the team, we created Zavilia. This gave the public a central point of contact to identify the criminals involved in the riots.How long has Zavilia been up and running? Are you currently working on any improvements or changes? A mobile app? Where will you take the idea next?Zavilia was made live on the evening of Monday, August 8th, after several hours of development. We are constantly improving the site, and, based on traffic figures, we may be planning an overhaul. In terms of future websites, it is certainly possible. The reaction to Zavilia has been hugely positive, and this is encouraging. In terms of an App Store app, we are investigating which avenues to explore. The copyrights have been made on the Zavilia brand name, principle, and technologies.How much traffic did you get during the riots?Although we cannot comment on exact figures, we can confirm the website peaked at over 100,000 unique visitors.The site allows people to make a kind of digital citizen’s arrest. Have you had much communication with police? If so, what has that interaction been like?Matthew: I’d be tempted to disagree that it is a ‘digital citizens arrest.’ We are not vigilantes, and neither is the British public. They are simply aiding the police in their investigation by making suggestions as to possible leads.What has the interaction been like between the website and the people who have been turning in photographs or identifying specific individuals in the photos? And how much traffic did you get?It has been a huge success. The report coding has worked successfully even under heavy traffic. We have also had many repeat identifications, of which some have been referred to the police.
How many suspects has Zavilla turned over to the police?We have made contact with the authorities regarding several identifications, although we cannot disclose the exact figure due to security reasons.The London Riots Facial Recognition Google group shut down after receiving some threats. Has your team been threatened by rioters or those who may disagree with the work you do?Yes, we have received them. There have been very few threats compared to the huge number of identifications and messages of support, however. The threats have ranged from infantile comments, to racist accusations, to entire documents detailing why Zavilia is “unethical” and “encourages vigilantism.” These remarks are however unfounded, and no damage has been done. I’d say for every threat we received, there were 500 messages of support and positive contribution to the site.In the Middle East social media has had some serious effect on politics. In the West, social media seems to be more about sharing photos or keeping in touch. Is that changing?Social media networks have got a long way to go before they reach their peak. I believe the friendly “keeping in touch” aspect is just the tip of the iceberg for something much greater. This will take a lot of development, but it will be of enormous use to society when fully developed. Online social interaction will play a key role in almost every industry in the coming decade.What other users do you envision for this kind of technology?We do envisage much greater uses for Zavilia. However, as these are currently copyright pending, we cannot disclose any further details.
What’s your personal outlook on the riots? Do you know anyone who has been affected or involved?Although I feel strongly that people should never turn to crime to make a point (e.g. turning protesting into rioting), the riots have not affected me directly as I live in the countryside.Follow Motherboard on Twitter @MotherboardTV
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