When Acquittal Is Just a Tweet Away: Obtaining Historical Social Media Evidence

From Service Providers That Use the SCA as a Shield

Social media websites can provide a digital goldmine of potential evidence, such as group memberships, tweets, and photos. Even if defense counsel can view postings, however, the viewable material is often limited to recent content. As a result, defense counsel may need to subpoena missing information under Fed. Rule Crim. P. 17(c). An obstacle is the Stored Communications Act, which service providers rely on to refuse compliance. Which legal arguments can help the defense fight for the production of social media evidence?