Presentation of Caroline Rizza, Ângela Guimarães Pereira, Michel Chiaramello and Paula Curvelo on the topic "Do-It-Yourself Justice: Considerations of Social Media Use in a Crisis Situation: The Case of the 2011 Vancouver" at ISCRAM2013 Riots

1. “Do-it-yourself justice”:
considerations of social media use
in a crisis situation
The case of the 2011 Vancouver riots
ISCRAM Conference
May 15th 2013, Baden-Baden
Dr C. Rizza, Dr. Â. Guimarães Pereira, & P. Curvelo

2. Plan
1. The Case
2. Scope of the paper
3. Methodology
4. Results
5. Discussion
22 July 2013

3. The case
• 15 June 2011,Vancouver (Canada): Ice hockey
Stanley Cup final between Vancouver & Boston
• Vancouver is losing: riots start & last all night
long
2 July 2013 3

4. Social media are used to ‘cover’ the
riots:
42 July 2013
• Citizens witnessing the events
• Rioters taking pictures of themselves
• Local authority officers identifying rioters after
the events
• Vancouver citizens helping local authorities
identify rioters,
• Vancouver citizens enforcing justice by
themselves

5. Scope of the paper
52 July 2013
• Examine the news media narratives
around the time of the riots
• Gain an insight into the imaginaries
behind the use of social media
What the media echoed and commented on, in
relation to ethics and social networks.

6. Methodology:
Discourse media analysis & grounded theory
• The main media narratives were collected
through Internet with a specific attention to on-
line media and blogs
• Data was coded by 2 persons
• Coding categories have been chosen inductively
• The results are presented following 6 coding
categories
62 July 2013
“The construction of news is most of all a reconstruction
of available discourses” (van Dick, 1983)

7. Results: The 6 coding categories (1/3)
1. An unexpected source of information for the
investigations
“Pictures, videos and posts detailing every step of the riot began to
appear on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter within
minutes of the first signs of trouble. The quantity of digital evidence
already posted to the internet is enormous and police believe it will
help them track down those responsible for the violence”
2. Limitations and risks of error in the
investigation process
“After all, snapshots don’t always tell the whole story.
“Facebook has provided an almost bottomless trove of information
to police. Even when encouraged by justified popular outrage, law
enforcement needs to use that power with care”
72 July 2013

8. Results: The 6 coding categories (2/3)
3. An involuntary empowerment of citizens in the
process of identification
“And the Web-based flood of information has upended the usual police
investigative process, with people identifying suspects and sending
photographic evidence before police even know what crimes may have
taken place. “In a routine case we have a clear crime and then take steps
to identify the suspect and compile evidence. In these cases, we have
names of suspects before we know exactly what they did and where they
did it. (…) said Sgt. Weidman”
4. Social media’s technical potential in supporting mob
behavior
“The massive online reaction to the Vancouver riots is unprecedented and
potentially as ground-breaking as WikiLeaks.(…) The mob mentality has
moved into cyberspace for the first time”
8
2 July 2013

9. 5. The enforcement of vigilante justice
“Vigilante retribution delivered via social media and online “name and
shame” sites is delivering what may well be life sentences to riot
participants while the legal system is just beginning to work its way
toward due process”
“Kotylak and his family had to flee their home last Thursday night after
their address appeared online, and threats started coming in”
“The online forums have gotten pretty ugly. It enables a whole dark side
of our psyche to go public …”.
6. A communication tool with public in crisis situations
92 July 2013
Results: The 6 coding categories (3/3)

10. Discussion
 The use of SN raises awareness of how some ethical & moral
values, once taken for granted, have become moot points
102 July 2013
• The quality of social media material and legitimacy of
its use in law enforcement and charge processes
 Unverifiable quality vs. Fairness & justice
• Unregulated empowerment
 Institutional Unpreparedness vs. Integrity,
responsibility, accountability & fairness.
• Social media vigilantes
 Unintended do it yourself justice vs. Fairness & justice
• Who decides what an issue is
 Unintended do it yourself society vs. Justice,
responsibility & accountability.

11. Joint Research Centre
Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen
Digital Citizen Security Unit
Security, Ethics in Information & Communication Technology Action
Caroline.rizza@telecom-paristech.fr
Thank you!