Cameron wanted to shut down Internet during riots: Report

Cameron, however, was cautioned by Foreign Secretary William Hague not to do so, because such a blackout would be exploited by countries like China as evidence of British double standards on free speech and freedom of expression, the 'Daily Telegraph' reported today.

John Kampfner, the chief executive of the free speech lobby group Index on Censorship, was quoted as saying that Cameron was keen to impose Internet restrictions as the crisis deepened and public concern grew.

No reference was made to this at the London Conference on Cyberspace, but Cameron told the gathering yesterday: "We cannot leave cyber space wide open to the criminals and terrorists that threaten our security and prosperity".

According to Cameron, governments must not use cyber security as an excuse for censorship, or to deny their people the opportunities that the internet represents.

At the height of the riots, Hague had opposed the shutting down of internet services, despite widespread claims they were being used to encourage and organise disturbances.

He said it would undermine pressure on repressive regimes to allow access to political web content and reduce their spying on citizens, the paper reported.

The government later did not seek new powers to restrict the Internet, but Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry representatives were summoned to a meeting with the Home Secretary two weeks after the riots.

In a speech to the conference on cyberspace, Hague said: "Cultural differences are not an excuse to water down human rights, nor can exploitation of digital networks by a minority of criminals or terrorists be a justification for states to censor their citizens."  

He added: "We reject the view that government suppression of Internet, phone networks and social media at times of unrest is acceptable... We saw in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya that cutting off the Internet, blocking Facebook, jamming Al Jazeera, intimidating journalists and imprisoning bloggers does not create stability or make grievances go away.

"Journalists and bloggers must be allowed to express themselves freely and safely and within international standards".