By Chloe Chappell, Staff Writer
In mid-September, the popular social media platform TikTok was flooded with content referencing Gabrielle Petito (Gabby Petito), a young influencer who went missing following a highly documented cross-country camping trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.[1] It was difficult to scroll through TikTok and other social media sites without seeing a video sharing her case, a conspiracy theory, or someone trying to share information they believed could be helpful.[2] TikTok’s influence on the case was greater than simply getting it into the national spotlight.[3] The police were inundated with tips arising from the widely popular TikTok videos, with some believed to have helped lead the police to Petito’s body.[4]
While tips in any case can be vitally important, and they undoubtedly helped police in the Petitio case, there are also several downsides to TikTok’s influence on criminal justice. While social media, like TikTok, can immensely assist in the finding of missing persons[5], it also creates issues with misinformation and ensuring the protection of Constitutional rights.[6]
One such example of pervasive misinformation in the Petito case can be seen in the popular theory, spread across social media platforms, claiming that even if caught by law enforcement, Brian Laundrie would not be able to be charged with Gabby’s death due to the “Zone of Death”.[7] The “Zone of Death” is a concept developed by Brian Kalt, outlining the belief that, in theory, someone may be able to get away with a crime in a very specific 50 square mile area of Yellowstone Park in Idaho.[8] This concept arises out of the fact that the entirety of Yellowstone is under the Jurisdiction of the U.S District Court for Wyoming, leading Kalt to believe that any crimes committed within this area may be exempt from prosecution due to the 6th amendment right to having a jury of peers from the state and district where the crime occurred.[9] This purported “loophole,” has never been addressed by Congress or the Courts, giving no precedence for future cases.[10] Such “gray areas” have led to growing concerns that misinformation published on social media will contribute to individuals, who do not fully understand the law, taking negative actions.
Another concern arising from the growing influence of social media is the width of vital criminal justice information.[11] Given how many people have heard endless information about the case on TikTok and other social media, it could make it difficult to find an unbiased jury.[12] This was seen in the tumultuous jury selection for the case involving Derek Chauvin, where numerous jurors did not feel they could be impartial after viewing the video evidence of George Floyd’s death.[13] Likewise, this may create an issue in the Petitio case, as it would be difficult to ensure that all of Laundrie’s Constitutional rights are upheld if he was to be put on trial.
In State v. Dulos, Fotis Dulos was charged with tampering with evidence in the ongoing investigation of the disappearance of his estranged wife and the mother of his children, Jennifer Dulos.[14] The disappearance of Jennifer Dulos gained intense media attention, which led to misinformation and the unauthorized release of information pertaining to the case.[15] The Court in Dulos, states
“The problem with pervasive information or misinformation in the social media age is that in a high-profile case, it carries the potential to overwhelm the vital, constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair trial. This is a particular danger here, where there is still an active criminal investigation and an ongoing process of fact-gathering into the disappearance…”[16]
Public obsession over ongoing cases makes it difficult to ensure that Constitutional rights, which are fundamental to our country and society, are protected when a criminal defendant is in the spotlight.[17]
Social media’s influence will not stop with the Petito, Chauvin, and Dulos cases. Recently, this has manifested with a push of influencers on TikTok seeking to convince their followers to continue sharing missing person cases, particularly those of minority women, in the hopes of obtaining a similar outcome achieved in the Petitio case.[18] Many hope that social media can be used to solve more missing person cases and potentially find victims while they are still alive.[19]
Social media has undeniably had an impact on ongoing criminal cases [20]and the legal community will have to continue to adapt, as it has been, to accommodate the inevitable influence that social media has on the legal community.[21]
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/gabby-petito-timeline-missing-case/index.html
[2] https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-tiktok-viral-posts-brian-laundrie-disappearance-criticism-2021-9
[3] Id.
[4] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/tiktok-gabby-petito-missing-van-b1924416.html
[5] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/tiktok-jelani-day-gabby-petito-missing-people
[6] https://www.saini-law.com/importance-of-social-media-on-criminal-justice/
[7] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-zone-of-death-yellowstone-b1922432.html
[8]https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/glj93&div=23&g_sent=1&casa_token=QaRTg-sssmgAAAAA:TBhmhCLFSzhVGmrhlXSEZG5E6ilpktTgd1cKbPatFcGyU-daMpK_7HvIXmOT1fXd3HYy3XA&collection=journals
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] https://www.saini-law.com/importance-of-social-media-on-criminal-justice/
[12] https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/derek-chauvin-s-requires-jury-his-peers-s-harder-it-n1260290
[13] Id.
[14] State v. Dulos, 2019 Conn. Super. LEXIS 2484, 2019 WL 4898712
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] https://www.saini-law.com/importance-of-social-media-on-criminal-justice/
[18] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/tiktok-jelani-day-gabby-petito-missing-people
[19] Id.
[20] https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/09/22/five-crazy-crime-cases-tiktok-users-have-helped-solve/
[21]https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcohen1/2016/11/27/law-in-the-age-of-social-media/?sh=f875ff81db83
