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To be fair, phone footage often serves the public good as well. Cases of injustice have been brought to light by circulated videos \u2013 <\/span>children being abused<\/span> and <\/span>cases of bullying<\/span> for example.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, you could say that there is a sort of democracy to viral videos. A grainy phone recording can hold powerful people accountable, protect vulnerable groups, reveal discrimination and prevent institutional cover-ups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For instance, in 2018, viral leaks of audio recordings and CCTV footage of physical and verbal abuse of staff by entertainment lawyer Samuel Seow led to public outrage and police investigations. He was ultimately <\/span>disbarred and served time in jail<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But not all viral videos expose cracks in the system, abuse of power or systemic injustice.\u00a0A video can become viral simply because it reveals ordinary human ugliness or emotional dysregulation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In such cases, when thousands or more cast themselves as jurors to a short video without much context, emotions can quickly spiral. This is especially true because audiences often project private experiences and grievances onto the viral clip, form tribes and drift into stereotyping.<\/span><\/p>\n