Lehna Hewitt & Sarah Hughes report on the use of social media in divorce cases
Research carried out by Divorce-Online in 2012 highlights the huge significance that social media now has to family law. The study found that one in three divorce petitions in the UK list Facebook as a contributing factor, with flirtatious e-mails and messages sent on the site being one of the most commonly cited examples of unreasonable behaviour. Office romances and affairs that took months or even years to develop in the real world can now happen almost instantaneously on Facebook and Twitter. People can connect and become “friends” even if they have only met once or twice, and social media sites provide an easy forum for couples to inadvertently arouse the suspicions of their partners.
Social media is also now featuring in a growing number of international family cases. Where clients are trying to establish jurisdiction on the basis of domicile or habitual residence, sites like Twitter can be used as evidence
