Watch What You Post on Social Media

Video Transcribed: My name is Brian L. Jackson, and I’m a Tulsa Father’s Rights attorney with Dads.Law, we protect dads’ rights in Oklahoma, I’d like to talk to you guys tonight about social media. Social media is not a bad thing, but it can really… It’s a great way to keep in touch with your family and friends.

It’s a good way to keep track of old friends from college. Some people use it to talk about politics, meet like-minded individuals. It’s a great tool. It can also be a dangerous place to be if you’re in the midst of any kind of legal problem.

If you’re in custody litigation, going through a divorce, going through a protective order, certainly if you’re facing criminal charges of any kind, it can really do you harm. A couple of things to keep in mind. Once you upload something, it’s there forever. Even if you quote-unquote delete it, you have no idea who might have downloaded that, printed that, copy that.

And also there are sites that archive old pages like the Wayback Machine. So assume if you upload something it’s there forever and ever. As far as the admissibility of your posts, you don’t have a privacy interest in what you post online on your social media.

So that means that for the state to get ahold of it, they don’t need a warrant and it is discoverable in civil matters. So if you have something up there that’s questionable, I would say delete it, but I’d also tell you don’t add to it.

And if you won’t know you’re in the middle of litigation, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Minds, any of those sites are not the place to air your dirty laundry, because that can come back and haunt you later. I can tell you, I routinely, in custody litigation ask for social media posts.

So absolutely don’t talk about your custody case online, and also make sure you talk to your relatives. And if you have a girlfriend, talk to her. If you’re remarried, talk to your new spouse, talk to your immediate families and tell them not to post stuff.

And even if it seems innocent, the best rule, just because anything could potentially bite you, even something seemingly innocent, just stay off while you’re in the midst of any kind of courtroom litigation.

I once had a case where I jammed a guy up on contempt because his new fiance had posted a photo of her vehicle that he bought her. And she thought she was bragging on her new man and what a great guy he was because he bought her this great car.

Well, as it turned out, he was facing contempt because he hadn’t paid the note on the old car he got in the divorce. And he went up there and was trying to say he couldn’t afford to make the payments.

However, as it turned out, he bought the new fiance this vehicle. I got the posts and he was found in contempt of court. Don’t let that be you. This is why just stay the hell off of there during litigation.

I mean, just, generally speaking, stay the hell off of there. And if you need to sanitize your page, well, the best bet is don’t put stuff like that up there. Keep your private business private, because once it’s discoverable, you can’t sanitize it.

So the best advice is to keep your private business private. Don’t put it up there because it is discoverable. And if you find yourself in a situation where you know put something questionable on Facebook, or you’re dealing with any kind of custody or other legal situation where you need help now, you can talk to me through Dads.law. I’d encourage you to go, get on there. Get ahold of me. I’d love to help you out, guys. My name is Brian L. Jackson and I’m an Oklahoma father’s rights attorney.