‘I’m Just Here for the Riot’ Documentary: Hot Docs Summer Screening Series

The violent mob that erupted on June 15, 2011, after the Vancouver Canucks Game 7 Stanley Cup loss caught the world’s attention—partially because it appeared un-Canadian, mostly because it became known as the “first smartphone riot.” Images of looting, vandalism and fighting spread through social networks as quickly as the fires burning around the arena. In the following days, more than a million photos and a thousand hours of video were sent to the police as evidence, leading to hundreds of charges. Following up with a number of individuals whose brief actions were immortalized online and the repercussions they suffered, both legal and social, highlights the perils of a toxic social-media mob mentality that has only grown and that persists to this day. A shame first, ask questions later society has real-life consequences in this critical look at a technology that has outpaced our understanding of how best to use it. Alexander Rogalski