Handshakes and Hashtags in the ICC

This chapter delves into the puzzling world of the International Criminal Court’s social media presence: who is the voice of the Court? What are they sharing? How are they doing it? Increasingly peeking out from behind the scenes of the courtroom, the Court has a noteworthy tendency to post photos of the ICC’s President and Chief Prosecutor shaking hands with world leaders and dignitaries and hashtagging them with snappy phrases like #justicematters, #endimpunity, and #withoutfearorfavour, on the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This chapter reflects on what these visual displays of cooperation and their corresponding hashtags reveal about the Court’s commitments to transparency, justice and outreach, even in the absence of trials and judgements.