Police arrest man for not using Twitter

In another example that Twitter is now considered the primary tool for communicating real time information, police in New York have arrested a man for not using the micro-blogging site to help them control an unruly crowd.

The man, James Roppo, was a colleague of Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber.
Roppo was reportedly asked by the police to tweet a message to Bieber's fans to tell them to disperse but did not cooperate.

According to a report on Newsday, Roppo was in custody Friday night, awaiting possible charges that could include criminal nuisance, endangering the welfare of a minor and obstructing government administration.

Bieber told his 14,808 Twitter followers he was on his way to a popular mall in New York to "sign and meet fans", but a couple of hours later he found he was not allowed in the building because of a chaotic crowd.

"They are not allowing me to come into the mall. If you don't leave I and my fans will be arrested as the police just told us," Bieber told his Followers.

"The event at Roosevelt mall is cancelled. Please go home. The police have already arrested one person from my camp. I don't want anyone hurt," he said half an hour later.

The case demonstrates that police are increasingly using Twitter for crowd control purposes.

During the London G20 protests, police used Twitter to gather information on where crowds would be gathering.

23 Nov 2009