e-Discovery in a New World:
The Ethical Implications of Social Media

Social Media’s Explosive Growth

In December 2011, Facebook had over 800 million active users. By the end of 2012, they’ll have over a billion. Twitter is estimated to have around 140 million active users, with growth to 250 million expected by year-end.

With such a rapid incline in the popularity of these new technologies, social media discovery has become a more frequent topic in the world of e-discovery – and along with that come a number of ethical questions.

Ethical Use of Social Media Data

Lawyers have been mining for data since the profession began – that’s nothing new. However, the ease with which information can now be gathered through social media discovery is uncharted territory, as are the methods that can be used to access this information. 

Has easy access blurred the line between acceptable and invasive discovery tactics? Where is the ethical boundary?

Even the courts are grappling with this issue. There are judges who have ruled that a private Facebook profile, which can be accessed only by other Facebook members to whom one has given permission, bears a reasonable right to privacy and is exempt from social media discovery. On the other hand, some judges have ruled that such use is fair game, since these social media platforms are part of the Internet, and the Internet is public space.

Our newest whitepaper, “Ethical Implications of Social Media Discovery,” examines issues that legal professionals should consider when it comes to ethics and social media, including:

• Admissable Use and Facebook
• Social Media as Surveillance
• Social Media Discovery Precedent Cases

Learn more about the current state of ethics in social media. To obtain your FREE copy of our whitepaper, please click here.