Social Media Tips to Avoid Incriminating Yourself

Your social media accounts are more than just a portal to connect to the rest of the world, they are admissible evidence in a court of law. Protect yourself with these tips.

Criminal Defense Law Firm 317-636-7514

Criminal Defense Law Firm 317-636-7514

The word, “social” in “social media” is too often overlooked. Users forget just how “social” their accounts can be. Just like your criminal history, your social media accounts are permanent play-by-play records of your life. Whatever you post to a social media platform is public to the entire internet world forever, even if you delete something after it’s been posted. Organizations like law enforcement can access these records anytime, including Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, and more.

For this reason, it is important to instill safe and appropriate social media use onto our youths, and to teach them how to protect themselves from abusers, predators, hackers, and even from themselves. You see, many people unintentionally incriminate themselves by using their social media accounts irresponsibly. Whether facing a minor traffic penalty, or 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, a court can and will use social media accounts to prove their case against you.

Helpful Tips to Protect Yourself

It is important to understand that whatever you post is permanent, and that your page settings have no influence over the capacity for law enforcement and the government to access them at any given time. You must also understand that these groups and organizations retain innovative technologies that allow them to identify IP addresses, dates, times, locations, coordinates, and more, making it easy to prove their cases in court. Your internet use is never private to the government, no matter what your privacy settings say or do. Accepting these truths is the first tip.

It is also important to know that courts can use the data they collect from your social media accounts as evidence to build a case against you. For instance, if you are a suspect in a petty theft operation, and you tell police that you were at home with your family at the time the crime occurred as your alibi, but later, police find a Facebook post that was posted around the time you claimed to be at home. So then they use their technology to identify the coordinates of where the post was made, and they discover that the post was made from the parking lot of the store that was shoplifted from. This post puts you at the scene of the crime, therefore contradicting and nullifying your alibi. They can use this as evidence against you in a court of law.

If you are facing criminal charges, and you fear that your social media account may influence the court’s decision over your case, it is important to tell your criminal defense lawyer at your first meeting. They need all the information they can get to build a strong and impactful defense on your behalf. It is also imperative that you stop using all social media accounts during your legal process. In conclusion, you must understand that nothing you post is private. All of your internet use can be traced by high-security technology used by government organizations and law enforcement, including your location and more. And it can all be used as evidence to convict you of a crime.

Get Aggressive Criminal Defense

David E. Lewis Attorney at Law

David E. Lewis Attorney at Law 317-636-7514

Call Attorney David E. Lewis at 317-636-7514 for aggressive criminal defense in Indianapolis, Indiana. We work around the clock to ensure your rights are protected and your freedoms are preserved. Our law firm offers free initial consultations to discuss your case and the best strategies for defense. Call 317-636-7514 to speak with an Indianapolis criminal defense lawyer who cares.

Your Social Media Activity Can and WILL Be Used Against You in Court

Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snap Chat, and so on. There are numerous social media platforms to choose from. But just because you set your preferences to “private” doesn’t mean your social media is truly protected and hidden from others. Anything you choose to put on the internet is documented forever, and out there for the public to see. And people are now starting to realize this as prosecutors are using social media activity against defendants more and more. And they are doing this within their legal means. Continue reading to learn how social media can be used against you in court.

Social Media is Evidence

Criminal Defense Attorney 317-636-7514

Criminal Defense Attorney 317-636-7514

The government, social services, law enforcement, and of course, the court system, can legally use a person’s social media activity as evidence in a court of law or for other case proceedings. These agencies can easily prove that incriminating statements found on your social media pages came from your device and were posted by you by using certain identifying information. This includes your unique IP address, IP history, and Meta Data. This provides dates, times, locations, email addresses, connected accounts, cloud information, and more.

For instance, if you posted an image of you vandalizing school property on Instagram, and later arrested as a suspect for the crime, prosecution CAN and WILL use those pictures as evidence that you are guilty. And the evidence will be admissible in court.

In another example, if a person posts a statement bragging about beating someone up, their post can be used against them to prove that they are guilty of assault. On the other hand, if you were arrested as a suspect for a crime, but your social media places you in a different city or state at the time that the crime took place, you could be dropped as a suspect.

Social Media Advice

Be careful what you post online, especially if you are involved in any type of legal battle. The information you think is private is not private to everyone. And even if you delete posts, they still exist in IP history (which you cannot access and permanently delete either) for quite some time. If you are facing criminal charges, it is best to avoid social media use altogether. Law enforcement does need a warrant to investigate a defendant’s social media, but these are easy for them to acquire, and they will do it. This applies to court cases for child custody, divorce, and much more. Social media is so widely-used by people of all ages, it is a huge source of evidence in many types of court cases.

Criminal Defense in Indiana

Criminal Defense Lawyer Indianapolis Indiana

Criminal Defense Lawyer 317-636-7514

Call David E. Lewis, Attorney at Law, at 317-636-7514 if you were recently arrested for a crime, and now facing criminal charges in Indiana. He is an aggressive and experienced criminal defense lawyer that will stop at nothing to protect your rights and preserve your freedoms. He offers free initial consultations, so get in touch today! Let him build a strong and impactful defense on your behalf, and guide you in the direction of your best interests. Call 317-636-7514 to get started right away.