https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085116687032 Feminist Criminology 1–21 © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1557085116687032 journals.sagepub.com/home/fcx Article Virtualized Violence and Anonymous Juries: Unpacking Steubenville’s “Big Red” Sexual Assault Case and the Role of Social Media Jordan Fairbairn 1 and Dale Spencer 2 Abstract In this article, we analyze a 2012 sexual assault case from Steubenville, Ohio, and the hacktivist “Anonymous” group response to the sexual assault. Drawing on Paul Virilio’s discussion of dromoscopy and concept of virtualization, we demonstrate the speed at which a “local” sexual assault can be exposed and go viral and how broader publics can be interpellated as bystanders in such cases. We show how emerging forms of online activism are exposing and contesting these new forms of violence against women and consider their potential to erode criminal justice blockages to justice for survivors of sexual violence. Keywords sexual assault, technology, dromoscopy, social media, criminal justice, violence against women, activism Introduction News stories are ephemeral in virtual contexts, moving through time and space quickly due to the vast quantity of information circulating the Internet on a daily basis. Yet every so often one story or image evokes massive public attention and emotion and crystallizes a set of emerging social issues. In 2012, a case from Steubenville, Ohio, presented such an event. The story of high school athletes perpetrating sexual assault in a tightly knit, football fanatical town encapsulated deeply embedded power dynamics 1 Western University, London, Ontario, Canada 2 Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Corresponding Author: Jordan Fairbairn, Western University, 1137 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3K7. Email: jfairba4@uwo.ca 687032FCX XX X 10.1177/1557085116687032Feminist CriminologyFairbairn and Spencer research-article 2017