With every day that passes, social media is being used more and more in litigation. If you are not careful, your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social media account you may have could be used against you in a personal injury case.

Does Social Media Count as Evidence?

Insurance companies have no trouble finding information posted on social media profiles because of how public and accessible it is. In fact, the opposing lawyer has the right to request access to your account information. In this situation, having your privacy settings turned on is not going to protect you. After looking over your profile, the defense may find information they could use against you in court.

Facebook is the most common social media used as evidence in court. Private messages, photos, and status updates can all be entered into a case as evidence. The defense lawyer may look at your Facebook profile to learn more about your character. For example, was there anything you did to cause the accident? Do you regularly engage in illegal or reckless activities?

The defense could also explore your Facebook page to learn whether or not you are lying about how certain injuries are impacting your life. Posting about certain activities you are doing and could not be doing if you had a serious injury could hurt your case in a big way.

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?

The key is to take a little time to think about what you are posting on your Facebook page. If you are in the middle of a personal injury case, you should post as little as possible until the case is over. In general, you need to be careful about what you post on Facebook all of the time because they are going to be looking at your status history before the accident even occurred. Furthermore, you never know when an accident is going to happen.

Having pictures on your wall of you being reckless, carefree, or irresponsible could be used as an example of your poor character. The defense could argue that someone with your poor character should not be trusted.

If you have anything damaging on your profile, you should remove it as quickly as possible. You should also keep a close eye on your account and make sure your friends do not include you in a post that can hurt you.

If you are concerned about whether or not your social medial profiles could harm you, talk to a personal injury lawyer such as Emery Jamieson LLP. Ask them if they would take a look at your profile and give you an opinion of whether or not it could be used as evidence against you.