Private vs Public Social Media: Can DMs and Texts Be Used in Court?

Text messages and private social media messages may feel personal—but they aren’t always private. In legal cases such as divorces, custody disputes, or criminal matters, these messages can become crucial evidence. So, can text messages be used in court? Yes. And depending on the content, they can carry significant weight.

Courts Do Accept Text Messages as Evidence

Courts often accept text messages and direct messages as evidence, provided they are both relevant and authenticated. In practice, this means proving who sent the message and that its content hasn’t been altered—which is why simple screenshots may not always be admissible. Authentication typically comes through witness testimony, phone records, or metadata. And if a person sent a message from their phone number and later acknowledges it, that message can carry significant weight in court.

Private Messages Aren’t Always Protected

Many people assume that private messages—whether on WhatsApp, Signal, or Facebook Messenger—are completely safe from court. That’s not the case. If one party legally obtains those messages, they can often be introduced as evidence. In family law disputes, for example, this commonly happens when a spouse has access to the other’s phone or shared cloud account.

A message labeled “private” or sent through a secure app does not make it immune from use in legal proceedings. If you sent it, and it can be authenticated as coming from you, it may very well become part of the evidence.

Deleted Messages Aren’t Always Gone

Deleting a message doesn’t mean it’s gone for good. If the other party already saved a screenshot or downloaded the chat, it can still be used. Many apps also back up messages automatically to the cloud or a computer, and legal teams can subpoena those backups when necessary. In some cases, courts may even approve forensic analysis to recover deleted texts from phones—particularly in matters involving fraud, harassment, or other serious claims.

Bottom line: sending a text and then trying to erase it rarely offers protection.

Ninette Caneda

Magna Legal Services

https://magnals.com/