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ARTICLE · 14 JUNE 2018

Impact Of Social Media Evidence In Litigation

Miller Thomson
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It is undeniable that social media has transformed the way individuals interact with one another. In 2018, 64% of Canadians had a social media profile, 50% of whom were registered on more than one social media site.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Theodore Madison
Theodore Madison
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It is undeniable that social media has transformed the way individuals interact with one another. In 2018, 64% of Canadians had a social media profile, 50% of whom were registered on more than one social media site.1 Ontario has the highest number of social media users in Canada with 67% of residents using social media platforms.2 Unsurprisingly, the prevalence of social media has invited unprecedented challenges which the courts and legislature have had to tackle.

It is simply a fact that information we input into social media platforms becomes indefinitely stored and available for future access. We have come a long way from only admitting an original document as evidence to allowing Facebook messages to be used in criminal and civil trials. Both the Canada Evidence Act  (CEA) and the Ontario Evidence Act (OEA) define what an electronic record is and the standards of integrity needed for admissibility. Section 34.1(1) of the OEA  defines an electronic record

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