To preserve public safety, the state must begin by accepting a simple truth: the crowd now begins in the feed, not on the street.
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For decades, public mobilisation followed a predictable path in Pakistan: political parties issued calls, clerics announced processions, and unions organised marches. The police relied on this structure for years — negotiating with leaders, planning routes, and anticipating escalation based on past patterns.
But crowds across the country no longer mobilise the way our institutions imagine them. That world is gone.
Today’s crowd forms inside a smartphone long before it appears on the street. A short video, an edited clip, a voice note, or a rumour forwarded through WhatsApp can spark movement faster than any political directive.
TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have become Pakistan’s real mobilisation engines. Their algorithms reward emotionally charged content — anger, outrage, victimhood, religious sentiment — and rapidly push it to millions.
When virality becomes a security threat
Having commanded almost 11,861 public order operations
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