Juridical Analysis of Reconstructing Trial by the Press in the Digital Era: No Viral, No Justice for Substantive Justice

Abstract

Indonesia's criminal justice system faces a fundamental challenge as social media increasingly functions as a public deliberative space for legal disputes. The phenomenon known as no viral, no justice reflects widespread societal distrust in formal adjudicative mechanisms, while simultaneously giving rise to digital pressure practices that threaten the principles of fair trial and judicial independence. Yet no adequate conceptual framework exists to delineate the normative boundary between legitimate public participation and digital mob justice. This study aims to analyse the doctrinal shift from trial by the press to trial by social media and its implications for judicial independence and the right to a fair trial, while examining the extent to which digital public pressure can be legally justified in the pursuit of substantive justice. The research employs a normativetheoretical legal method, drawing on both statute and conceptual approaches. The findings reveal that the shift toward trial by social media poses demonstrable risks to judicial impartiality and defendants' procedural rights, while simultaneously operating as a social control mechanism that reinforces judicial accountability. This study offers a novel conceptualisation of digitally mediated participatory justice, articulating normative limits that distinguish constructive civic engagement from digital lynching. The implications point to an urgent need for regulatory reconstruction that balances digital freedom of expression with the integrity of Indonesia's criminal justice system.