M.J.M v A.D., 2008 ABPC 379
In M.J.M v A.D., social media posts were used to establish that the father could not act as a principled-decision maker for his child, despite seeking primary guardianship.
The Court found that the father posted demeaning content about the co-parent on Facebook. An aggravating factor that led to the denial of custody was that the child in question indirectly was exposed to the content of the posts despite his young age. The father countered that the posts were made purely for enjoyment purposes, but the Court was not persuaded. The guardianship application was subsequently denied.
D.(G.), Re, 2014 ABQB 469
Similarly, in D.(G.), Re social media posts were used to deny the appeal of a mother for permanent guardianship and parental rights. The mother persistently posted information on Facebook and YouTube that included information and photographs of her child that may have led to child exploitation. Despite orders to remove the social media posts, the mother continued posting questionable content. The Court characterized this behavior as pigheaded as exhibiting “lack of sound judgment and awareness of threats to the Child.” As such, the mother’s appeal for guardianship and parental rights was denied.
In both the M.J.M v A.D and D.(G.), Re decisions , the parent seeking guardianship of a child argued that attempts were made to anonymize the identity of the subjects mentioned on social media. However, the Court rejected this argument as the posts were made on a publicly ween profile where people within the party’s social network knew or could reasonably assume who the recipient of the content was.
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