Divorce Attorney Explains Why Social Media Is Dangerous in Court

You can be perfectly behaved in court, but if your Instagram says otherwise, you've already lost credibility. Welcome to Monday Madness. My name is Andrew Rosenberry and I am a Certified Family Law Specialist in the Southern California area, and today we are talking about social media as your silent witness in court. People often vent on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, or post celebration photos that directly contradict their testimony or appearance about their lifestyle or fitness as a parent. In a formal environment like a courtroom, your digital footprint is treated as a window into your true character. I recently had a case where the opposing party was receiving spousal support from my client, and the reason why that person wasn't working was based upon a claim that they were physically disabled. Now, the social media showed otherwise. The social media showed that person skydiving, golfing multiple rounds, multiple times per week. Because of the social media posting with regard to the skydiving, I was able to send a subpoena to the skydiving company for records regarding this individual. Now, when you go skydiving, you have to sign documents for the company that evidence you have no physical limitations and you have actually consulted with a doctor. I was able to receive those documents and provide them to the court. As you can imagine, that person lost their spousal support entirely. One thing to consider with regard to your social media is who is on your friends list. You can have friends that you don't even remember are on your list. They may be aligned with the other person. What a surprise it is when you get a pleading from the opposing party and it has all of your social media postings that you thought you had blocked them from. As a final tip: during a case, your social media should be a ghost town. Don't give the other side a weapon you built yourself. Now, this does not mean you should erase what is currently on your social media — you are not permitted to destroy evidence.