How social media can impact your personal injury lawsuit
In today’s digital age, social media is part of everyday life. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X make it easy to share our lives with others. However, if you’re involved in a personal injury lawsuit, what you post — or what others post about you — can have a significant (and sometimes negative) impact on your case.
Social media posts can undermine your case
When you start a personal injury lawsuit, you are claiming that you were hurt due to someone else’s actions or negligence and that the injury has had a negative impact on certain aspects of your life. The parties then need to gather evidence as to what exactly that impact has been. Your social media posts can (and often do) become part of this evidence. Insurance companies and lawyers frequently conduct searches of a plaintiff’s social media presence to see whether the plaintiff’s activities posted on social media are consistent with the injuries or limitations they are claiming in their lawsuit. Courts will also often order that the presence of social media accounts and relevant posts be produced as evidence by a plaintiff.
The problem with social media evidence is that it is often not representative of someone’s day-to-day life. Social media posts tend to be the “highlights.” People will post photos of themselves smiling and looking their best, or videos of them socializing with friends and family.
What these posts do not show is the chronic pain or mental health struggles someone may be dealing with at the same time. Social media posts are often taken out of context in this way and create problems in a lawsuit.
Often, people also take to social media after an accident occurs to vent their frustration or post pictures of the damage. These posts can be used to cross-examine you and can be damaging for your case if the posts are inconsistent with the evidence that has been gathered during the lawsuit.
Best practices during a case
If you’re pursuing a personal injury lawsuit, the best practice is to limit or even pause your social media activity altogether. Avoid discussing your case online and ask friends and family not to post about your activities while your case is ongoing. An experienced personal injury lawyer can advise you about the impact of specific posts you may want to publish and how they can affect your case.
During a personal injury lawsuit, it’s best to remember a modified version of the famous phrase: anything you post can and will be used against you in a court of law.
This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.
