In the last few decades, riots have gained a new, permanent member. A different participant has joined the ranks of masked hooligans and terrified civilians.
As peaceful protests turn violent, shop owners watch their livelihoods get looted, and 19th-century town halls are set alight, we watch. The updates are so immediate, the chaos unfolding so close to real time and then posted and livestreamed online, that any passive digital onlooker might as well be there themselves.
