When you’re used to posting on social media all the time, it can be a hard habit to break. But if you’re involved in a personal injury lawsuit, the last thing you want to do is broadcast any part of your life online. It might feel like it’s just a harmless way to stay connected or vent your frustrations, but your social media account is the first place insurance companies and attorneys will be looking to undermine your case.
Your attorney is working hard to build a strong case and just one social media post can cause harm. A single post, photo, or even a check-in can become the smoking gun someone needs to question your injuries.
Anything you post can be used against you
It doesn’t matter what you post. Even seemingly innocent posts can be twisted out of context and details can be derived from photos that don’t seem related. For example, if you post a selfie at a party, it can be used to argue that your injuries aren’t that serious.
On social media, your posts aren’t private, even when your account is set to be friends only. Courts have ruled that social media content can be admissible in court and even private accounts can be accessed through the discovery process.
If you’re seeking non-economic damages like loss of enjoyment of life, one smiling photo can suggest that you’re not in pain and are still enjoying life as usual. It doesn’t matter if it was staged for a split second or taken before your injury – it’s going to be questioned, and you’ll have to prove it’s not what it seems.
When it comes to location tags and check-ins, they’ll be scrutinized. If you claim you can’t leave your house but start checking in at the gym or local coffee shop, you’ve just handed the opposing side ammo.
Insurance adjusters are looking for reasons to devalue your claim
In addition to calculating your payout, insurance adjusters are scrolling through your social media accounts looking for inconsistencies and evidence that contradicts your injury claim. For example, if you told a doctor you can’t lift heavy objects, but there’s a video of you helping a friend move furniture, the insurance company will use that to devalue or dismiss your claim.
Social media surveillance is a standard protocol in injury fraud detection. Insurance companies often hire investigators to monitor claimants, which includes online activity. They’ll scour your accounts as well as your friends’ pages, searching for instances of your name to find all of your posts, comments, and likes.
Deleting posts can make things worse
It’s natural to want to delete posts that don’t paint you in a good light – but don’t do it. Deleting social media posts can be seen as destroying evidence. Courts take this matter seriously, and destroying or altering evidence can result in sanctions, fines, and losing your case. For instance, after a Virginia man lost his wife in a tragic accident, he posted unhelpful photos to social media. His lawyer poorly advised him to deactivate his account, and that move resulted in a $542,000 sanction against the lawyer and $180,000 against the plaintiff. This case is extreme, but it can happen to anyone.
Deleting a post doesn’t make it disappear. Lawyers can subpoena your posts, including deleted posts, by forcing platforms to retrieve deleted content. Trying to cover your tracks is a red flag and makes it seem like you have something to hide. Even if what you’re deleting seems innocent, resist that urge.
You need to ask your friends to stay quiet
Even if you’re not posting to social media, your friends and family might be tagging you in photos, commenting on your condition, or posting updates on your behalf. This can hurt your claim. If someone tags you somewhere or in a photo related to an activity that contradicts your official story – even if you’re not in any photos – that tag is now part of the narrative.
Even if your friends are joking and say something like, “did you just run a 5k last week?” this is enough to raise questions in court. If any of your connections have public pages, investigators will browse those accounts to find information. It’s not enough for you to stay quiet – you need to ask friends and family to do the same.
Log off, period
Your injury lawsuit isn’t the time to be sharing your life on social media. Every post you make creates a digital breadcrumb that gives the opposing attorneys and insurance company an opportunity to question your claim. It’s too risky. Until your case is complete and you’re genuinely healed, it’s better to stay off social media.
