Researching social media has given me a front-row seat to one of the most fascinating developments of the past decade: the rise of online sleuthing communities.
Sometimes called Internet sleuths, citizen detectives, or true-crime creators, these self-appointed investigators use platforms such as TikTok and YouTube to analyse court cases, examine evidence, interpret behaviour, and offer theories to enormous audiences. Whether they are right or wrong, their ability to influence public opinion is undeniable.
I first became fully aware of their power during the televised defamation trial involving Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. I happened to be visiting the United States at the time, so I was able to follow the proceedings directly on Court TV and online.
I watched the testimony and evidence and formed my own opinion. At the same time, however, my social media feeds were filled with TikTok creators dissecting virtually every moment of the trial. They analysed statements, facial expressions, audio recordings, legal arguments, and exchanges between the witnesses and lawyers.
Many of these creators helped their audiences understand details that might otherwise have been overlooked. Their interpretations reinforced my own conclusion that Depp’s account was more persuasive.
More importantly, they demonstrated that legal proceedings were no longer being interpreted only by journalists and professional commentators. A new class of social media analysts had emerged, capable of shaping the dominant public narrative in real time.
Since then, I have seen similar communities form around many other cases. One that particularly challenged my perception of social media sleuthing was the case of Lindsay Clancy.
When I was visiting the United States during the summer, I encountered numerous TikTok theories suggesting that her husband might have been responsible for the deaths of their children. Some creators treated this speculation almost as established fact, despite the lack of evidence supporting it.
After following longer and more detailed discussions by YouTube commentators, I came to understand the case very differently. Clancy was accused of committing filicide - the killing of one’s own children (three in her case).
Some commentators discussed the concept of altruistic filicide, a term used for cases in which a parent believes, however irrationally or delusionally, that killing a child will somehow protect the child from suffering. The term may help describe a particular motive or psychological state, but it should not be mistaken for a moral justification.
The case also led to difficult conversations about postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and criminal responsibility.
On our own Omani social media platforms, a prominent Omani lawyer explained when severe mental illness might affect a person’s legal culpability and when it would not. This distinction is crucial.
A psychiatric condition may provide context and, in certain legal systems, affect whether someone possessed the mental capacity required for criminal responsibility.
Nevertheless, an explanation is not automatically an excuse, and public discussion should not erase the victims or declare someone innocent before the evidence has been properly considered.
These cases revealed both the value and the danger of social media sleuthing.
Online communities can democratise access to information, question simplistic media narratives, and help ordinary people engage with complex evidence. Yet they can also amplify rumours, reward confident speculation, and turn incomplete theories into apparent truths.
Perhaps their greatest power lies not in solving cases but in framing them. Most people do not watch an entire trial or examine all the available evidence. They rely on edited clips and interpretations from creators they trust.
Social media sleuths therefore become informal gatekeepers of public understanding. Their influence carries real responsibility: curiosity and collective analysis can illuminate the truth, but when certainty outruns evidence, the same communities can distort it.
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