Discoverability of Social Network Information

Facebook reportedly has more than 845 million monthly active users who upload around six billion photos per month; Twitter has over 100 million active accounts posting one billion tweets per week. In total, over 80% of Americans use at least one social network. It did not take attorneys long to realize that social network sites were an untapped repository of potentially discoverable information that could be used for impeachment purposes against parties and witnesses. However, users routinely employ privacy settings that only permit network “friends” to view posted material, keeping most information beyond the view of the general public. Despite liberal rules of discovery in civil litigation, parties are generally not entitled to complete access to an adversary's social network accounts without a prima facie showing of relevance. The emerging question is what constitutes a sufficient showing. In recent years, courts have come to varying conclusions as to the discovery of information posted on social networking sites.