Massachusetts Criminal Defense Resource Page

Facebook Evidence in Criminal Cases

Status updates, photos, or other information shared on Facebook or other social media sharing sites can absolutely be used as evidence against you in court in a criminal case.

A declaration on Facebook (or Twitter, MySpace, Google+, your blog, or any publically available platform) can incriminate you in both criminal cases or in civil or administrative hearings, like school suspension hearings.

This also includes incriminating photographs shared by you or others. It could be a picture of an underage person holding a beer can that can result in criminal charges of Minor in Possession of Alcohol, or could get you kicked out of school, or off of the sports team.

You Can't Be Too Careful With Personal Information

Most kids who have grown up in an era of social media connectivity and sharing don't consider the potential implications of "oversharing". From "sexting" which can result in criminal sex offenses like distribution of child pornography, to admitting drug or alcohol use in a status update, the criminal implications can be significant.

While it is true that, your privacy is under assault from companies that want to engage you for profit, most of the time people willingly give up all of this control over their personal information.

It's also been widely reported that Facebook routinely provides any requested information to law enforcement. They hand over whatever is asked for,  even that which is not completely open and public. It is not clear whether or not an actual warrant issued, but it is almost always done without notifying the participants on the targets.

The bottom line is that people need to be extremely careful what they share on Facebook, or other internet platforms.

Update: The New York Police department has a department dedicated to tracking suspect information on social medial platforms. This stuff is real, folks!