Bengaluru stampede: How lack of clarity on social media left RCB fans confused

The Hindu

9 hours ago

Bengaluru
Of the many things that went wrong on June 4, when the stampede occurred during the victory celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), tragically killing 11 persons, the most important one was glaring gaps in social media communication. Throughout the day, various updates that were put out by the social media page of RCB conflicted with the communication provided by the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) and Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), leading to confusion among fans.
'When I woke up, I saw that RCB had announced a victory parade and decided that I would participate in it. In a few hours, I saw again on social media that the police had denied permission for the parade. A few minutes later, there were clips that showed the bus that was supposed to be used for the parade being decorated and even interviews with the crew of the bus. The RCB account also announced shortly after that the parade was back on, and hence, I came near the stadium,' said Nisarga Shivakumar, who was near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium June 4.
Long-held fantasy
For many years now, every time an image of a huge crowd of a big football club's fans or a concert popped up on social media, RCB fans would share those images with the captions 'Majestic when RCB wins' or 'Bengaluru streets when RCB wins'. So, the idea of a crowd gathering for a victory celebration had long been on fans' mind in the event of RCB winning the final. This fantasy, coupled with RCB's announcements, led fans to believe that a victory parade was definitely going to take place.
The police department's attempt to inform the public that there will not be a parade did not prove effective despite the Home Minister himself speaking on television channels and saying that there will be no parade.
The BCP's official X account did not post any details about the events that will be held, or will not be held, on June 4, whereas the BTP posted that there will be a special felicitation ceremony in the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and only those with tickets or passes would be let inside, by 2.44 p.m.
Significantly, around 3 p.m., RCB yet again said that the victory parade was back on.
Why the messaging about the parade by RCB reached more people is not hard to tell: The official X account of BTP has 6.885 lakh followers, while the official X account of RCB has 75 lakh followers.
Lack of clarity
'It is not just that the RCB account had bigger reach, it is that they were still not clear with their communication. This was not the first time they were doing a big event. They have previously conducted Unboxing events in which all the star players are present. Their communication had always been clear during that event, that only those who bought tickets in advance could go and the rest could pay a small amount and watch it on YouTube. But on June 4, the media team first did not say where the tickets for the event were available. They later said that it would be available on the website, but by then, there were already many rumours on social media,' explained Praveen Shetty, a long-time RCB fan.
He explained that there were rumours that the RCB Fan Army had been given a certain number of tickets, and these could be collected by those who reach the stadium early. 'This might also be why many gathered near the stadium from noon itself,' Mr. Shetty added.
Numbers and responsibility
Priyank Kharge, Minister of Information Technology and Biotechnology (IT & BT) admitted that the State Government, RCB, KSCA, the police and the fans could all have done something better that day. 'The biggest challenge for security right now is social media as people tend to believe whatever they see on their social media feeds. This is why institutions with large followings should have clarity in their messaging. The police, on that day, could have clearly said that it would be difficult to handle the crowd; the RCB account could have informed the fans clearly about stadium capacity and avoided overcrowding,' he said.