TRIAL BY INTERNET

‘IN THE KANGAROO COURT THAT IS TIKTOK, JOHNNY DEPP WON A LONG TIME AGO’

NOT since the OJ Simpson trial has a court case attracted so much public attention. A livestream watched by hundreds of millions of people, social media users weighing in endlessly, news sites providing saturation coverage – it’s Johnny Depp and Amber Heard overload.

Much of it has been disturbing. First, there are the details: harrowing testimony of domestic violence, claims of extreme drug and alcohol abuse, deeply personal accounts of what went on behind closed doors and sordid tales of cruelty and disrespect that make you wonder if these two ever felt anything for each other at all.

And then there’s the court of public opinion. The internet means anyone can weigh in – and tens of millions have been doing so, Johnny fans under the Justice for Johnny Depp hashtag, Amber’s under I Stand By Amber Heard.

There are many more hashtags in between – and most of them are so anti Amber it’s spawned a whole separate debate: despite the fact