Social Media Platforms in International Criminal Investigations

Hamilton discusses the use of social media platforms in international criminal investigations. The growing reliance on digital evidence in international criminal investigations now extends beyond Syria. In 2017, the UN established a Fact-Finding Commission to investigate atrocities against the Muslim minority Rohingya population in Myanmar. Prohibited from entering the country by the Myanmar government, its investigation also relied heavily on digital documentation, in particular evidence posted on Facebook. There is justifiable excitement about what digital documentation can offer international criminal investigations. When those who are on the scene during, or soon after, the commission of atrocity crimes record what they see, the access problems facing outside investigators are overcome and evidence that may otherwise be lost or destroyed is instead preserved. But as with any new technology, digital documentation in general, and user-generated evidence in particular, raises challenges.