14 DAY TRIAL // One situation that social networks have been facing more frequently, especially the larger ones, is what to do with the accounts of deceased users. Twitter follows Facebook in putting in place a policy on the matter and by spelling out how it handles such cases.
“If we are notified that a Twitter user has passed away, we can remove their account or assist family members in saving a backup of their public Tweets,” a Twitter help page reads.
Twitter asks for three things before it will take any action, to verify that the person requesting access is in the position to do so and, of course, to verify that the user in question has actually passed away.
You will need to provide:
- Your full name, contact information (including email address), and your relationship to the deceased user. - The username of the Twitter account, or a link to the profile page of the Twitter account. - A link to a public obituary or news article.
Once these requirements have been met, Twitter can take two actions based on the family’s preference. It can either remove the account altogether from the site or provide the relatives with a full archive of the public tweets the user has made.
However, Twitter is careful to not go too far with this. Since it would be hard to verify with a high degree of certainty that the request is valid, Twitter won’t allow the family access to private tweets or other data. It also won’t disclose the user’s account credentials.
If the family wants to post a final tweet or just access the account, they must obtain the account’s username and password by other means. Access to a registered phone would suffice.
Facebook also has a policy in place for such events, but it handles requests differently. Facebook allows relatives to request that the account be removed or ‘memorialized.’ The latter option would leave the account in place, but won’t allow any further access to it, even by family members, and will also make it a bit more private.