There are many ways for people to enhance their privacy on social media. They can restrict who sees certain content. They can unfriend and block people. They can communicate about certain matters via direct or private messaging instead of by making public posts and comments. They can also join private groups on social media where people discuss certain specific matters.
Although each of those options can limit who sees an individual’s behavior on social media, none of those efforts offer much privacy protection to those going through divorce. If the formal discovery process includes social media records, seemingly private information could become evidence.
How social media discovery works
Most people expect the discovery process during divorce to focus on financial records. However, those attempting to prove infidelity, disparagement, substance misuse, or other types of marital misconduct may ask for formal discovery to include social media records obtained directly from the individual, or the social media companies.
In such cases, the records made available to the spouses and their lawyers include private messages, activity in private groups, and other seemingly protected content. In fact, the discovery process may even result in the disclosure of deleted or hidden content that someone previously attempted to remove.
Nothing people share on social media is truly private, and that fact is crucial for people to understand during divorce. Most people preparing for divorce have to adjust their social media habits beyond just blocking and unfriending their spouses. When in doubt, it is always better to keep one’s life off of social mediate during the divorce process, or any post-divorce litigation.
Understanding how the discovery process could uncover social media activity can help people protect themselves as they prepare for divorce. What people share on social media can occasionally impact the outcome of proceedings, so it is important to be proactive about that reality. See our recent blog post on smart use of social media, or contact us with any questions.