How to Capture Evidence on Facebook – Before it Disappears

On January 7th, 2025, Meta announced they will be making major changes to content moderation policies on all their owned platforms, including Facebook: ending third-party fact-checking in the US in lieu of a new "Community Notes" feature, lifting restrictions on certain content, and allowing more political content in people's feeds, in order to "return to [their] fundamental commitment to free expression."

Those who practice law understand and appreciate the power of precedent. As technology evolves, and as our digital world continually expands, the law is evolving with it. Courts across the country are continuing to examine social media as evidence the standards that must be met for it to be admitted and authenticated. Attorneys who want to provide the most effective representation for their clients need to stay ahead of the social media curve. This means not only remaining informed as to how social media is being used as evidence, but also staying abreast of what standards must be met to properly authenticate it.

Staying Ahead of the Social Media Curve It is undeniable that our world is becoming increasingly digital, and increasingly social-media oriented. In fact, it is currently estimated that Facebook has 1.5 billion daily users, and 2.3 monthly users. At any given minute throughout the day, there are an estimated 347,222 people scrolling through Instagram. Twitter has approximately 326 million monthly active users – a number which is steadily growing[1]. In fact, all of these numbers are steadily growing. According to a recent New York Times articles, studies estimate that people between the ages of 35 and 49 spend about three hours per day on social networking sites, while those between 18 and 34 spend more than 3.5 hours per day using social media platforms[2]. It goes without saying then, that in that time, amongst all of those users, a significant amount of content is created each and every day.

We live in a world that is more connected today than ever before. A large part of that connectivity is thanks to social media. It is currently estimated that Facebook has 1.5 billion daily users, and 2.3 monthly users. In any given minute, there are an estimated 347,222 people scrolling through Instagram, and Twitter has approximately 326 million monthly active users.

If you’ve recently spent time investigating the various technical approaches to capturing, preserving, and organizing online content, you’ve likely heard of tools that use application programming interfaces (APIs, for short) to archive social media feeds and other websites. While you may have heard a good deal about APIs and their use, it’s understandable that you may remain unclear on some of the finer points of what APIs are, and how exactly they function to collect data.

Making Savvy Social Media Choices A fact about litigation is this – one of the most important parts of any trial begins before the trial itself. Jury selection is a critical component of the outcome of any trial, and if you are an attorney who regularly litigates, it is likely that you already know this simple truth.

The ubiquity of social media in our world is impossible to ignore. Over 5 billion people use social media globally in 2025, representing more than 60% of the world’s population.

If you’re an attorney, a paralegal, an investigator, a law enforcement officer, or even if you just watch a lot of legal dramas on television, you’re likely familiar with the term “chain of custody”. Essentially, maintaining a “chain of custody” means validating how evidence has been gathered, tracked, and preserved prior to being entered into a case. In both civil and criminal litigation, maintaining a clear chain of custody is critical to the admission of key evidence.

“Chain of custody” is a familiar concept for anyone working in law enforcement, legal practice, or investigations. It’s a foundational part of proving that evidence presented in court is authentic, unaltered, and admissible. From physical crime scene artifacts to corporate records, courts have always required a clear, documented trail showing where evidence came from, who handled it, and how it was preserved.

Recent reports show over one billion people were on Facebook on one day. One billion people! Most were there to catch up with friends, see some trending content, or just to waste some time. With a crowd that large, you know there are a fair bit of nefarious activities going on.