Police use of Twitter during a sporting mega-event

Aitken, A; Ralph, L; Robinson, P

Abstract

There exists a range of sporting mega-event security case studies from respective Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup, and UEFA European Football Championships. This literature tends to focus on outlining the policing and physical security arrangements at respective Games and the social consequences of these. However, no studies have examined police use of social media at a mega-event. This article addresses this gap by analysing the Twitter activities of social media accounts from police forces and units within Glasgow and London during the Euro 2020 Finals. The article makes an empirical contribution to the mega-events and policing literature by identifying that the police used Twitter in five strategic ways: security spectacle, demonstration of effective partnership working, responsibilisation of citizens, public feedback and reporting, and real-time crowd management. Such findings have important implications for the use of social media by police practitioners at future mega-events and for football policing.

Citation

Aitken, A., Ralph, L., & Robinson, P. (2023). Police use of Twitter during a sporting mega-event. Policing, 17, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad016

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 8, 2023
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 9, 2025
• Journal: Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
• Print ISSN: 1752-4512
• Electronic ISSN: 1752-4520
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Volume: 17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad016
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad016
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice following peer review. The version of record Adam Aitken, Liam Ralph, Paul Robinson, Police Use of Twitter During a Sporting Mega-Event, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, Volume 17, 2023, paad016 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad016