These days, almost everyone has some sort of social media presence. Even if you only post occasionally or use the sites to mostly stay in contact with friends and family, you still end up putting a lot of information about yourself and your activities out into the world of the internet. You may think that your activities have protection because you have all the available privacy settings in place, but that may not be the case.
Social media can become the bane of your existence if you come under suspicion for any unseemly activity. Try as you might to keep your personal affairs online private, ways exist to access that information, and if you end up facing criminal charges, the prosecution could use it against you in court.
Not as private as you think
Because social media is so popular these days, authorities (and even employers) have been trained to scour sites for incriminating evidence. Of course, you have all of your accounts set to private and do not post anything publicly, so you have protection, right? Unfortunately, that does not offer as much protection as you might think. Even if you have an anonymous account or use a pseudonym, ways exist that could allow authorities to track you and your activities if they suspect you of wrongdoing.
For example, if someone receives a threatening message from an anonymous user, authorities could still track down the sender and potentially charge him or her with a crime. The same could go for messages that set up meetings to exchange illegal substances or other similar activities.
Think twice before expressing thoughts
Many people use social media as their soapbox or as the place to leave long rants about how they feel. While you might think that you have typed out a rant just to vent, if you use threatening language or come across as harassing another individual, you could end up in hot water. As a result, you may want to think twice before you post your true feelings on social media.
In the event that you do face criminal charges, remember that you do not have to face the ordeal alone. An experienced Texas defense attorney can help you understand how your social media presence could affect your case and what you can do to defend against any allegations that authorities have brought against you.
