Crowdsourced Justice Social Media and the Overturning of a Wrongful Murder Conviction

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Crowdsourced Justice

Social Media and the Overturning of a Wrongful Murder Conviction

Azi Lev-On

Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

An examination of one of the most contested murder cases in Israel's history: the 2006 killing of 13-year-old Tair Rada, and the public struggle that unfolded in its aftermath. While Roman Zadorov was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, persistent doubts about the investigation and trial fuelled a large-scale, long-term wave of digital activism.

Drawing on extensive digital ethnography, interviews, and analysis of online discourse, the book traces how thousands of citizens used social media platforms to scrutinize evidence, challenge official narratives, and participate in an alternative, decentralized form of truth-seeking. It offers a detailed account of the evolving interplay between legal institutions, media coverage, and networked publics, highlighting how competing interpretations, new evidence, and alternative suspects reshaped both public opinion and legal proceedings.

By situating the case within broader debates on participatory culture, misinformation, and institutional trust, Crowdsourced Justice provides a nuanced account of how justice is contested, constructed, and reimagined in the digital age.

Azi Lev-On is a faculty member in the School of Communication in Ariel University, Israel. His research focuses on the social and political uses and impact of the Internet and social media, and particularly on their affordances for and usage by citizens in terms of speech and action, and the corresponding institutional responses.

Publication Date: 04 March 2027
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN-13: 9798216440260
Format: Paperback softback
Page Count: 336
Weight (oz): 16.0

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