Both the Florida State Bar Association and the North Carolina State Bar Association have issued advisory opinions indicating that a lawyer may advise a client to “clean up” his or her Facebook or other social media pages by changing the privacy settings so that they are not publicly accessible and/or by removing photos, posts or other information. However, where potentially relevant and/or discoverable, the underlying materials must be preserved, in accordance with the substantive law (and/or any applicable court orders) regarding preservation and/or spoliation.

See North Carolina Formal Ethics Opinion 5 (July 25, 2014) and Florida Bar Professional Ethics Opinion No. 14-1 (Oct. 16, 2015). See also New York County Lawyers Association Ethics Opinion 745 (2013).