Rashid Gabdulhakov publishes an article in the special issue on “Citizens’ Crime Watch and Vigilantism in Post-Soviet Societies”

Portrait of Rashid Gabdulhakov

PhD Candidate Rashid Gabdulhakov published an article titled “Heroes or Hooligans? Media Portrayal of StopXam (Stop a Douchebag) Vigilantes in Russia” for the special issue in the Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research journal, guest edited by Gilles Favarel-Garrigues and Ioulia Shukan.

The article addresses the role of traditional media in the manifestation of digital vigilantism (digitally mediated citizen-led justice). It does so by looking at the case of Russia’s prominent vigilante group StopXam (Stop s Douchebag), which specializes in shaming and exposing road traffic and parking violators. StopXam participants confront the drivers and retaliate by placing stickers that read “I spit on everyone I drive where I want” on the targets’ windshields. The retaliation is often accompanied by verbal and physical fighting; the process is filmed, edited, and shared on YouTube, receiving millions of views. While digital media made such practices possible, traditional broadcasters maintain significance in rendering meaning to the phenomenon of vigilantism.

The article seeks to achieve three objectives—to test the existing conceptual frameworks for understanding digital vigilantism using the example of StopXam; to investigate the nature of portrayal of vigilantes, their targets, and police forces in Russia’s state-owned and independent media; and to evaluate the role of traditional media in digital vigilantism manifestation.

Full article can be accessed here.

This work is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) project number 276-45-004.

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