Albany Law School Professor Patrick M. Connors discusses recent New York cases addressing the discoverability of social media accounts in his article entitled Disclosure of Information on Social Networking Websites:

The court concluded that the “information sought by defendant regarding plaintiff's Facebook and MySpace accounts is both material and necessary to the defense of this action and/or could lead to admissible evidence." The court recounted that plaintiff's "public profile page on Facebook shows her smiling happily in a photograph outside the confines of her home despite her claim that she has sustained permanent injuries and is largely confined to her house and bed." Based on the public portions of plaintiff's social networking sites, which contained material that was at odds with her claims and deposition testimony, the court determined that "there is a reasonable likelihood that the private portions of her sites may contain further evidence such as information with regard to her activities and enjoyment of life, all of which are material and relevant to the defense of this action."

For the entire article, please see here.