Police, protests, and policy in rio de janeiro-mega-events, networked culture, and the right to the city

Abstract

This essay looks at the role networked media plays in orchestrating direct action, exposing social injustices, and representing political dissent in relation to the mega-events hosted in Rio de Janeiro in 2014-2016. It examines how independent media and citizen reportage are shaping practices of social organizing and civic mobilization to change the focus of public debate around these events and issues relating to them. It also explores how the government, in turn, is widening its use of digital military applications to monitor citizens and restrict the right to the city under the rhetoric of national security, and how this is impacting on individual freedom of expression, the structure of public protest, and threatening the democratic capacity for social and political impact.