The use of social media evidence in the courtroom: A survey of lawyer's experiences in Poland

Abstract

Despite its potential evidentiary value, presenting information from social media in the courtroom poses practical challenges. Various legal, ethical, and forensic issues tied to social media evidence have international relevance, as judicial authorities globally navigate the same technological landscape. This article presents the results of an exploratory cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted among active civil litigation and criminal defense lawyers in Poland (n = 278) in January 2021. The results confirm that social media content is present in Polish courtrooms and perceived by practitioners as potentially valuable evidence in all types of civil and criminal court cases. A content analysis of the comments from the study's participants revealed four key themes concerning their perception of social media evidence: (a) a lack of knowledge on how to properly present such content, (b) judges' reluctance towards accepting this type of evidence, (c) a problematic absence of legal regulations for accessing and gathering social media evidence, and (d) the presence of a significant amount of legally relevant information in social media content. To better manage social media evidence, there is a need for clear, understandable guidelines for lawyers and judicial authorities, in addition to the development of forensically sound methods of handling this type of evidence.