Who will manage your social media accounts after you die?

What happens to your social media accounts when you die?

Imagine you die tomorrow and your family, friends and loved ones are confused and saddened by your loss. Thousands of messages flood into your social media accounts even though they know you’re no longer there, and that’s when the questions start: “Who will reply to those messages after I’m gone?” “Who will decide what happens to the posts I shared back then?” Few would know how to answer these questions, and this uncertainty can linger even after your death.

In this article, we explain in detail what happens to your social media accounts once you can no longer control them.

What do we think might happen?

Many will assume that our accounts will remain active, but as ‘ghosts’ – that is, they will still be present on the platforms, but no one will be able to interact with the person behind that profile. It is important to find out about this and understand the options offered by the platforms and what the law allows in the event of death.

What does the law say about who can control your social media accounts?

According to Article 96 (right to a digital will) published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) as part of the Organic Law on Data Protection and the Guarantee of Digital Rights, it states that:

Access to the digital content of a deceased person shall be regulated as follows:

Access to a deceased person’s digital content shall be governed as follows:

- Relatives or, in fact, heirs may access the deceased’s account in order to view, use or delete all information relating to the deceased.

If the deceased had previously stated, prior to their death, that their data could not be accessed or altered, all of the above shall be void.

In the case of inheritance, this prohibition shall not apply if they need to access the content to manage the financial aspects of the inheritance, such as recovering cryptocurrencies or managing an online bank account.

- The executor of the will, that is, the person authorised by the deceased, as well as any person or institution expressly designated by the deceased for this purpose, may also request access to the digital content in accordance with the deceased’s instructions.

- In the case of deceased minors, these powers may also be exercised by their legal representatives or, within the scope of its powers, by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which may act ex officio or at the request of any interested natural or legal person.

- In the event of the death of persons with disabilities, these powers may also be exercised, in addition to by those mentioned above, by their legal guardians.

These are things we don’t usually think about or don’t give much thought to, but they’re worth bearing in mind, as more and more people around the world now have social media accounts, and it’s essential for them to know what will happen to their accounts once they’re no longer with us.