Can the bankruptcy court interfere with social media space? Well, the answer is certainly yes but not if they are personal social media accounts but definitely if they are social media accounts used for business purposes. This question has popped up after a recent judgment by a Texas bankruptcy court. If any social media platform like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc., are used for promoting business, they can be included in the bankruptcy estate. Not only that, but the bankruptcy court may also order the bankruptcy filer to submit the password of these social media accounts. The same level of authority is not applied for a personal social media account. However, if you are doing business promotions from your personal account and there is no separate business account, confusion begins here. Follow more such interesting and informational topics on Recovery Law Group.
What was the case?
In Texas, this interesting case happened wherein a firearm company owner decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The owner, Jeremy Alcede had a gun shop. Under the reorganization scheme proposed under Chapter 11, a new boss was suggested to take over the business of the gun shop. The bankruptcy court of Texas ordered the former owner to turn over all the electronic assets of the Tactical Firearm including Twitter, Facebook and all other social media accounts with their passwords to the new owner. Jeremy, however, had other thoughts and refused to share social media account details and would have rather preferred imprisonment.
What was the argument?
The former owner put forward a strong argument saying, the account was personal, and he administrated over them and created them. His rants on then-president Obama and all advocates, who wanted to put down gun licensing and eradicate public selling of guns. He used the accounts for voicing the benefits of his shop and garnered a good amount of publicity through them. The court, on the other hand, argued that the social media accounts are directly involved in business promotion and had a business website linked on the bio of the site and hence, shall be regarded as a business account. Considering all these factors, it was determined that social media account directly influence the business of Tactical Firearms and hence, the password and the accounts need to be handed over to the new owners.
If you are in a similar situation and need assistance to determine if your business account or your personal account could be in danger or not, reach out to 888-297-6203 right now.