The ridicu­lous propo­si­tion from the UK gov­ern­ment overnight that access to social media for those par­tic­i­pat­ing in social unrest (and, yes, bla­tant crim­i­nal­ity) beg­gars belief.

The prob­lems cur­rently in the UK are, undoubt­edly, symp­to­matic of a wide and deep set of infer­nally com­plex cir­cum­stances in that nation for which the seeds were sewn many years back; William Hague’s “we are all Thatcher’s chil­dren” words have more than a nugget of truth to them.

Tak­ing away social net­work access was uncon­scionable in the face of upris­ings in the Mid­dle East ear­lier this year. It’s no dif­fer­ent in this case. Root causes must be addressed. Social reform is absolutely crit­i­cal to begin mend­ing the bro­ken state of UK society.

And, yes, crim­i­nal incit­ing and par­tic­i­pat­ing in ille­gal acts need to be caught and pun­ished accord­ing to the law.

I was on ABC News Radio this morn­ing dis­cussing this matter.