Upset over the idea that is gaining popularity in Britain that social media should be banned during the social unrest, the executives from Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said that this would an "absolutely horrible idea".

According to report published in The Guardian the representatives of Rim and the two social networks told a committee of MPs on Thursday that they had seen "no evidence" to suggest that their social media services had been used to coordinate the riots and looting, as David Cameron and senior Scotland Yard officers claimed in August.

Facebook and Rim revealed that they have handed information about alleged rioters to police officers investigating the disorder. Stephen Bates, the UK managing director of Rim, declined to say publicly whether the company had passed intercepted messages to authorities.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, the BlackBerry Messenger service is encrypted and its messages hidden from public view.