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Ocelot II

(119,264 posts)
6. You can control who sees your stuff on Facebook but most people don't.
Wed Apr 17, 2024, 12:39 PM
Apr 2024

Facebook makes people use their real names, but DU uses screen names. It seems that it's permissible for lawyers to access public data on social media but they can't ask for screen names, passwords or other private information: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-ethics/jury-selection-20-ethical-use-of-the-internet-to-research-jurors-and-potential-jurors

In Most Jurisdictions Lawyers May Not Send a Request to a Juror to View Non-Public Juror Information on Social Media

The ABA, in Formal Opinion 476, observed that a lawyer cannot “personally or through another send an access request to a juror” for permission to view private information, since this would be “the type of ex parte communication prohibited by Model Rule 3.5(b).” This is the rule in most jurisdictions. See, e.g., Colorado Ethics Op. 127 (2015) (“[R]equesting permission to view a restricted portion of a social media profile of a prospective or sitting juror involves a communication with that person. Without express authorization from the court, any form of communication with a prospective or sitting juror during the course of a legal proceeding would be an improper ex parte communication.”); San Diego Ethics Op. 2011-2 (“requesting permission to view a restricted portion of a social media profile of a prospective or sitting juror involves a communication with that person … [and without] express authorization from the court,” is an improper ex parte communication); New York County Ethics Op. 743 (2011) (“significant ethical concerns would be raised by sending a ‘friend request’ attempting to connect via LinkedIn.com … or following a juror’s Twitter account”). See also Oregon Ethics Op. 2013-189, n. 2 (“a lawyer may not send a request to a juror to access non-public personal information on a social networking website, nor may a lawyer ask an agent to do so”).

Accordingly, the rule in most jurisdictions forbids “friending” as a means of reaching private social media sites, but there are significant variations from state to state.
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