Proving Domestic Violence Using Social Media Posting As Evidence: A Comparison between Common Law and Civil Law Systems

Abstract

The digital transformation of communication has revolutionized evidentiary practices, particularly in the prosecution of domestic violence. Social media postings—ranging from text messages and photographs to videos and digital comments—have become critical forms of evidence revealing coercive control, intimidation, and abuse. This paper examines the admissibility, authentication, and probative value of social media evidence in Malaysia and Indonesia, representing the common law and civil law traditions respectively. Drawing from Malaysia’s Domestic Violence Act 1994 and Evidence Act 1950, and Indonesia’s Law No. 23 of 2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence (PKDRT) and ITE Law (UU No. 11/2008 jo UU No. 19/2016), the study analyzes how courts navigate questions of digital authorship, privacy, and forensic reliability. Integrating trauma-informed adjudication and feminist jurisprudence, this paper argues that while Malaysia’s common law system offers interpretive flexibility, Indonesia’s codified evidentiary framework ensures procedural predictability. Drawing on comparative legal analysis, the study concludes that authentication and forensic preservation are indispensable for justice and proposes a harmonization of evidentiary standards for social media in domestic violence cases between the common law and civil law systems.