Were bots involved in trolling Amber Heard during Heard vs. Depp trial? New podcast reveals shocking discovery

The Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp trial, which saw the two Hollywood stars battle out a long-drawn defamation case following the couple's marriage, was one of the most heard topics all around the globe not very long back. A shocking discovery by investigative journalist Alexi Mostrous in a new podcast, titled Who Trolled Amber Heard, has shaken the world yet again.

During the entire trial, there was an outpouring of love for Johnny Depp and hatred for Amber Heard, but all the buzz on social media was not entirely because of Depp's fanbase. Instead, there were more considerable forces involved. The podcast has revealed that accounts connected to Saudi Arabia were allegedly responsible for an internet trolling campaign against Amber Heard.

According to Tortoise Media, which was behind the investigation into the case, more than 50 percent of anti-Heard Tweets were found to be "inauthentic." Moreover, earlier, the same accounts were reportedly used to praise the Saudi government or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, drawing parallels to Depp's association with Saudi Arabia and its leader.

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How were bots used to defame Amber Heard and how did it influence the jury?

The heavy trend of the highly publicized trial went viral in 2022. This meant that almost everyone had access to the trial and the occurrences, along with opinions from people all around.

With so many fake profiles posting things against Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, it is not far-fetched for the jury to be influenced by the same since jury members were allowed to keep their phones.

According to the findings in the investigative podcast, there is just a "0.1 percent chance" that all the hatred against the Aquaman actress was from real fans.

Though it's clear that there was a massive anti-Amber Heard campaign that took over the internet at a point, its source cannot be traced, except for the revelation that it was probably linked to the authoritarian Saudi regime.

While speaking to GQ about this case, Monstrous revealed why there was no investigation into this online phenomenon. He said:

"I think it's just very, very difficult to establish attribution in cases of online manipulation. Even in cases where you're absolutely sure these bots are working in unison and working in coordination, you don't have access to the IP addresses. Even if you did, it might not show you who commissioned it... It's really tough. And it's going to get tougher with AI and Chat GPT and things like that."

According to the podcast, #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser was used in more than 800,000 tweets between 2016 and 2022, showing the depth of bot usage to sway people's opinions in a singular direction.

Monstrous also warned people of the danger that this trend poses. He said:

"I personally think it tells us that far more people than we might think are vulnerable to this sort of content, and to consuming content in a way that potentially doesn't give them the full picture."

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's trial is long over now. Still, this investigation revealed a dark side of the internet that was perhaps instrumental in the trial and has eluded most people up to now.