Postmortem Policies of Select Social Media Platform: Example of Facebook and YouTube (Google).

As social media platforms emerge, it is becoming increasingly important for each platform to come up with what should be done to the account, content and the digital estate of a user after their passing. From Facebook to YouTube, individual platforms had to come up with work around for their memorial policies that work for their users.

Examining the various policies of these platform reveals different approaches to the memorial policies: and for this purpose, this write up will examine the provision of Facebook and YouTube memorial policies.

So what happens when a Facebook account user dies?

Facebook has a process for memorializing a user account upon receiving credible notification of death. According to Facebook's policy on "Reporting a Deceased Person or a Facebook Account That Needs to Be Memorialised.", it states that "It's our policy to memorialize an account for someone who has passed away if a valid request is received (Facebook, n.d.)" and to secure the page from unauthorized login.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook regards the memorialized space as a place for the family and friends of the deceased to bond and share memories of their loved ones. To make this possible, an account only require that family or friend contact Facebook with credible documentation of the passing of the pages owner and such a page would be memorialized accordingly.

However, there is also an option for the removal of the deceased user's account. With this option, the deceased's Facebook account and its content is removed from the platform forever. This request can only be made an immediate family member or a legal representative of the deceased.

To provide clarity on this option, Facebook's policy on 'Request removal of a deceased family member's Facebook account.' states the requester must... 'provide documentation to confirm that you're an immediate family member or executor of the account holder' (Facebook, n.d.).

And for the process to be completed, the policy continues, the requester needs "...to provide a scan or photo of your loved one's death certificate' (Facebook, n.d.). However in the absence of a death certificate, the policy also provides options to submit other proofs of authority which can be anything from power of attorney to last will and testament.

What happens to a YouTube Account when the owner dies?

Google, the parent company of YouTube`s memorial policy states several ways to deal with memorial issues, Google policy states that adding an "...inactive account manager is the best way for you to let us know who should have access to you information, and whether you want your account to be deleted"(Google, n.d.).

The above is the first policy of Google regarding account owner, this provides clarity for users who would like to hand over the control over their digital estate to a third party in case they die.

However in the event that the deceased did not include an active account manager or forgot to do so, that adds a layer of difficulty to the issue. Yet there are provision to ensure that such situation is taken care of.

Google have a modality to work with immediate family members or legal representative of the account owner. Reiterating this position Google policy states that they "can work with immediate family members and representatives to close the account of a deceased person where appropriate"(Google, n.d.).

However this provision does not include giving out the login details of the deceased user to the legal representatives as Google is committed to "keep people's information secure, safe, and private even after their passing"(Google, n.d.).

These provisions can be granted to legal representatives only after they must have gone through a thorough and careful review by Google.

From the foregoing, two policies are common to Facebook and Google (YouTube), these are memorializing and removal of the deceased account. It is therefore very important for users of understand these policies and see what is applicable to them and make arrangement for their digital legacy.

Bibliography

Facebook. "Managing a Deceased Person's Account." n.d. https://web.facebook.com/help/275013292838654?_rdc=1&_rdr Accessed June 11, 2024.

Facebook. "Reporting a Deceased Person or a Facebook Account That Needs to Be Memorialised." n.d. https://web.facebook.com/help/150486848354038/?helpref=uf_share Accessed June 11, 2024.

Facebook. "Request removal of a deceased family member's Facebook account." n.d. https://web.facebook.com/help/1518259735093203/?helpref=uf_share Accessed June 11, 2024.

Google. "Submit a request regarding a deceased user's account." n.d. https://support.google.com/accounts/troubleshooter/6357590?hl=en#:~:text=We%20can%20work%20with%20immediate,secure%2C%20safe%2C%20and%20private. Accessed June 11, 2024.