A Commons select committee comprised of several MPs on Thursday will investigate the alleged role of BlackBerry Messenger in the civil unrest across England last month.

According to The Guardian, unlike Facebook and Twitter, BBM is encrypted and its messages hidden from public view.

The newspaper quoted one committee member who declined to be named as saying, "There was suggestions from police that BBM in particular was used to facilitate organised crime during the riots. The question is, does [Research in Motion] have a responsibility to monitor its network or should the authorities have the power to do that? That is one of the issues to tackle without equating us with an authoritarian state."

Stephen Bates, RIM''s UK managing director, is expected to face questions from MPs on the company's view of law enforcement being given additional powers to shut down social networks in times of unrest.

The three social networks were summoned to a meeting with the home secretary, Theresa May, following the unrest. The government rowed back on a suggestion from the prime minister that it would look to restrict the sites during times of disorder.

Twitter is understood to have flown in its California-based general counsel, Alexander Macgillivray, for the hearing. The Facebook head of policy, Richard Allen, will represent that social network.