These are valid in standard JSON https://www.json.org/
{"friends":[]}
{"friends":null}
the datatype is Array(String), it will get exceptions when consuming
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS event(
friends Array(String)
) ENGINE = Kafka('localhost:9092', 'topic', 'group', 'JSONEachRow');
it's better if null can be deserialized as empty Array
Thank you.