You Really Need to Stop Confessing to Your Crimes Online
If you are online, you have probably witnessed a crime. I’m not talking about the crime of subservience – I’m talking about people who openly publish compromising information on social networks.
For one viral example, refer to the comments section of any video posted by Alex Peter , a lawyer on TikTok. Peter’s followers see him as their collective attorney, a parasocial relationship that Peter actively and cheerfully begs them to stop acting on. Commentators often seek legal advice, joke about committing crimes, or openly admit to committing crimes. These comments range from ” Is it illegal to take ducks out of the park?” Do you also want to see my completely unstolen park ducks? to ” I Shot a Man in an Applebee Parking Lot in Dunwich, Oklahoma in 1993 “.
Whatever the true intentions of these comments, I couldn’t help but wonder what these confessions in the comments section would look like in front of a jury. Especially on platforms like TikTok, where people’s accounts are anonymous, the line between truth and trolling is constantly blurring. What are the legal consequences, if any, of a light-hearted publication of criminal activity?
I spoke with Jack Litvak , a Phoenix criminal defense attorney, to better understand what it means when someone posts their crimes online.
Anything you post can and will be used against you.
Litvak says that since the advent of social media, people have been posting information that has ended up being used against them in court.
Litvak cites as an example a criminal posting a photograph of himself holding or even near a weapon, which would then be photographic evidence of the crime. But even less egregious messages can be compromising. Litvak says emotional status on Facebook, for example, can be used against you in court to demonstrate a potential motive or bias against a person.
As the Carey Law Office explained, “The publication is a written report. Unlike oral action, where the case revolves around the credibility of each person, written records are generally considered to be credible evidence.” Litvak says that’s why one of the first steps the state will take is to look at the defendant’s social media in order to use it against them.
Understand that even if you comment on a lawyer’s video, that person is not your lawyer. You don’t have attorney-client privilege.
You are not completely anonymous
Anything you post online stays there forever and can be traced back to you. It’s a fact of life when it comes to job interviews, online dating, and especially criminal trials.
If you’ve been charged with a crime, Litvak says a warrant to search for biographical information associated with your account can be used to link you to any anonymous username you post under.
Sometimes this research technology can work in your favor. Litvak explains that if someone posts fake posts on your behalf in an attempt to file a case against you, revealing when and where those posts were made could help clear your name. So to help or hurt your cause, it’s important to remember that nothing is as anonymous as you think.
If you’ve been accused of a crime, stop posting
Litvak’s top tip: You have the right to remain silent – so use it.
And if you keep posting, be aware that anything you say can be used against you, even if you’re a random TikTok commenter under funny lawyer videos.