How Do Social Media Investigations Improve Legal Cases?
These days, many people refer to social media platforms when they are seeking information on legal matters. Even lawyers are finding that capitalising on social media investigations can fortify the coherence and defensibility of their cases, giving them the edge they need to win cases for their clients. At Cybertrace, we offer services that have been specifically designed to comply with legal standards. Time and again, our clients and their lawyers have found these services vital for the success of cases in both civil and criminal litigation contexts.
Using Social Media Investigations to Unlock Vital Evidence
Social media is a moving feast. Where in its nascent stages, its focus was communication, in the present times people use it for all manner of expression. From personal and political beliefs to interests and passions and even peoples’ plans and intentions, social media can teem with clues to help substantiate legal cases. The content that social media users upload, such as text-based posts, pictures, videos, and even likes and comments can hold within it vital intelligence. Even an unassuming status update can reveal discrepancies in an offender’s or witness’s testimony. Social media can provide evidence that an individual has been present in a scene that is pivotal to a case. It can also reveal various agendas, motivations, and the company that people keep.
Professional Social Media Investigations Give Lawyers a Winning Edge
Extensive Digital Footprint Examination
Our thorough and rigorous approach to social media investigations cuts through either the curated image or opaque presentation that offenders tend to project. We track and trace posts, social and professional networks and interactions between users, looking for hard evidence. We also look out for patterns, habits and tendencies; anything that can be drawn upon as evidence in legal proceedings. We observe social media accounts closely and carefully report on what is relevant, assisting lawyers in strengthening their cases.
Legal Admissibility of Evidence is of Utmost Importance
Any digital evidence collected throughout the course of a social media investigation must be admissible in court. Cybertrace is committed to best practice on all fronts. And we have an especially thorough grasp of the necessity of conforming with legal standards in terms of the admissibility of evidence in court. Our practices ensure that all proof collected is compelling and compliant.
Hand-in-glove with this, are our processes and procedures for ensuring that evidence is gathered, stored and eventually archived in a manner that also complies with relevant privacy legislation and investigative industry standards.
Real-time Monitoring and Rapid Response Capabilities
Social media can shift and morph seemingly at light-speed. Cybertrace has the capability to conduct real-time tracking of individuals’ and organisations’ social media activities. Beyond setting up alerts, we also have special tools enabling direct and up-to-the-minute monitoring. This gives legal professionals the capability to react with haste and where needed, and to fold emergent evidence into their cases as they progress.
Safeguarding Against Digital Trickery
With increasing and alarming frequency, it is being reported in the media and by individuals that online content is found to be doctored and adulterated. More and more, offenders are disseminating deepfakes and other forms of digital deception in pursuit of all manner of agendas. At Cybertrace we use advanced forensic tools to test the authenticity of content on social media platforms. This is part of our assurance that what is presented in court is legitimate evidence and not fakery.
The Power of Social Media Evidence in Different Kinds of Cases
Family Law
Social media investigations in a family law context can make a profound difference to the outcome of cases. When divorce and/or custody disputes are being ruled on in the courts, the character of respondents, their financial situations, behaviours and relationships can be key factors. Using Cybertrace’s social media investigation reports, lawyers have a strengthened capacity to make a case for why a respondent’s actual life situation may not correspond with the image they are trying to portray to the judge.
Employment Disputes
In the context of employment law, social media can provide lawyers with powerful insights around issues such as contract breaches, misconduct, or employee leaks of confidential information. Legal disputes centring on unfair dismissal, discrimination in workplaces or harassment can benefit from the evidence collected by Cybertrace’s highly skilled team. Our reports will often be the linchpin which substantiates our clients’ claims.
Criminal Defence
Social media investigations support defence teams in the vindication of suspects, by helping affirm alibis, challenge the veracity of witness testimony or even identify other suspects. Cybertrace works tirelessly, parsing, analysing and synthesising evidence gleaned from social media platforms to provide legal teams with a potent tool to reinforce their defence apparatus.
The Cybertrace Advantage in Social Media Investigations
Litigation is more often than not a complicated affair. When lawyers can present evidence which is cohesive, convincing and in fact, incontrovertible, they are of course much more likely to win the case for their client. Engaging Cybertrace’s social media investigation services gives legal professionals access to a team of highly skilled and technically savvy experts. Our team is seasoned in terms of their years of experience, added to their cutting-edge knowledge of investigations best practice and the ever-changing tech and legislative contexts. Fortunately for our clients, our team is also expert in terms of the legal requirements that determine what is admissible and compelling evidence to a court of law.
We approach our cases methodically and with rigour and detail orientation, making sure that all relevant facets of the subject’s social media footprint are captured and annotated. We are relentlessly thorough in close readings of text, image and video content. Our understanding of the importance of fine details and nuances of each case calls us to tailor our reports precisely, with great commitment to our client’s needs. We pride ourselves on providing meticulous evidence and intelligence that takes our clients’ cases to a new level. Very often, our social media investigation reports give legal teams a winning edge. And sometimes our detailed reports even form the entire evidence base for our clients, assuring their victory.
This post was revised on 7 November 2024 for improved readability and accuracy.
