Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Lawyers Debate Finer Points Of Friending On Facebook
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 1, 2010
Modified Oct 1, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 1, 2010
Modified Oct 1, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Should Facebook come with Miranda rights? With many recent legal cases hinging on information procured from Facebook and other social networking sites, lawyers are now debating under what circumstances that information can be gotten and used in court. Two recent opinions in NY courts agreed that lawyers can use the info as evidence, as long as lawyers draw within the proverbial lines...which are kinda complicated.
Much of the debate lies around the difference between public pages and private ones. The New York City Bar's opinion brings into account the manner in which the info was gotten; lawyers can go as far as to “friend” someone not represented by an attorney, so long as they make it clear why they are doing so, and who they are. But if someone unfriends you, can you use info you got from them before that happens?
"If I’m researching a case I’ll do Google searches. What’s the difference between that and looking at someone’s Facebook?" Carl Kaplan, senior appellate counsel at the Center for Appellate Litigation and a lecturer at Columbia Law School, told the NY Times. This all sounds pretty reasonable, although the timing seems a little convenient, unless it turns out that it's all been meta viral marketing for The Social Network, a movie whose background could be the rosetta stone of this issue.
Tagged
friending
laws
lawyers
miranda rights
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .