Social media has changed the courts of law and the rules about what is considered substantial and what is not. The relevant evidence has changed dramatically with the growth of Internet programs like Facebook and Twitter.

Today, social media evidence is admissible in a court of law and social media accounts are very important considerations where lawyers and private investigators look for evidence when building cases.

Evidence from social sites is specifically used by lawyers to create prepared statements about a person’s state of mind, as well as to prove evidence of communication, place and time, or actions.

For example, someone might post on their Facebook status: “I have to. There’s no going back, sorry.” If this was posted by an accused person twenty minutes before the alleged crime was committed, it could certainly shock the jury.

Also remember that it’s not just about the words used, these sites can often offer some incriminating location details. A post could put someone near a crime scene at one point. Also, evidence from social media can accumulate over time and show relationship growth and extramarital affairs that could be used as evidence in divorce proceedings.

Divorce proceedings

It is important to be aware of the role that social sites can play in legal proceedings today so that you can protect yourself from self-incrimination through evidence collected in social media contexts.

did you know

66% of online divorce evidence comes from Facebook,

14% comes from MySpace,

5% comes from Twitter,

15% comes from other sources.

Additionally, lawyers and private investigators can collect information from Instagram, SnapChat, LinkedIn, blogs, dating websites, and any other sites you frequent online. Depending on the type of case filed against you, they will use different types of sites to build a case with social media as a significant part of the evidence.

Problems with social networks

Some problems have arisen in dealing with evidence from social media. Firstly, Western courts have recognized that there are many ways to manipulate or edit photos to incriminate and anyone has the ability to create a fake account. The process of properly verifying the source of information, especially written information, can be very difficult and obtaining evidence can take time that the court might not have. Additionally, lawyers must be careful how they acquire evidence and cannot obtain information from victims or others by acting as a fake friend online. Evidence can be immediately discarded if the methods for obtaining the information are inappropriate.

Facebook is also not incredibly cooperative when turning over information for legal proceedings and does not provide expert testimony.