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A Digital Witness: Domestic Violence & Social Media

By Hager & Schwartz, P.A.

May 1, 2020

As the quarantine extends, social media continues to prove itself as one of the world’s most valuable technologies. From allowing family and friends to connect while in isolation to being a place to vent and get things off your chest, social media is a place where everyone can share their stories. Unfortunately, that also means that social media is a place where people can overshare their stories and end up in legal trouble.

This is especially true when speaking about pending domestic violence charges in Florida. The content that you post on your social media while going through a domestic violence investigation will be used as evidence against your case.

I’ve Been Here All Along

Now, you might be thinking,

“How will what I post on social media negatively impact my pending domestic violence charges?”

If so, you’re thinking in the right direction when it comes to ensuring that you have the best chances of fighting your charges.

The information on your social media is never private. While you might think that changing your profile to “private” is enough to prevent individuals from seeing your content, you’re wrong. While it can help prevent the average person from viewing your social media pages, it won’t stop the police.

Social media companies work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to convict criminals. This is most commonly done by them giving the police access to otherwise private content. If you’re under investigation for domestic violence, you can assume that the content you post is never private.

What Information Can Be Used As Evidence?

To keep it simple, it doesn’t matter the way the information is presented (video, text, photos, etc.) on social media, anything that can be used as evidence can and will be used against you. Some of the most common information that is used as evidence includes:

  • Pictures
  • Text posts
  • Check-ins
  • Videos

How Is the Information Used Against Me?

The content you post to your social media can impact your pending domestic violence case in many ways. The most common ways we see social media posts impact our client’s cases include:

  • Showing new evidence
  • Confirming alibis
  • Linking missing pieces of evidence together
  • Showing your location before or during the time of the crime

At Hager & Schwartz, our team of trusted Broward domestic violence defense attorneys understands that following a domestic violence arrest, you likely have many questions about protecting your future.

If you’ve been charged with domestic violence, our team is here to help. Call us today (954) 840-8713 to learn more over the phone.