I n 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.

But s ocial media doesn’t just place us at these scenes of mass social unrest – it also now holds a pivotal role in enabling them in the first place. And the unique challenge for government bodies (still mostly made up of digital immigrants) is not just one of literal crowd control, but of limiting the networks themselves.

The continued destruction in France over recent weeks has led to increasingly dramatic measures.…