The Role of Social Media in shaping Customary International Law: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

This article examines the potential and pitfalls of using social media, specifically platforms like Twitter, to identify and shape Customary International Law (CIL). Traditionally, CIL is established through consistent state practice and a legal conviction known as opinio juris. The global shift to digital communication offers a new opportunity: public statements by states and their officials on social media could potentially serve as contemporary evidence of this required legal conviction. However, the analysis concludes that the risks associated with social media currently outweigh its potential benefits for CIL formation. Several critical challenges cloud its utility. These include the difficulty in distinguishing between a state official's personal and institutional legal views and the serious risks of misinformation stemming from hacking, diplomatic catfishing, and other forms of digital manipulation. Furthermore, social media inherently introduces biases, particularly by favouring Western democracies that have high digital adoption. This can lead to the strategic manipulation of legal narratives online. Without the implementation of robust verification mechanisms, the role of social media in articulating CIL remains fraught with ambiguity and is too unreliable to be a primary source for international law.