Have you ever thought about what would happen to your social media accounts if you passed away?
Earlier this week the Wills Service Centre at the Dubai International Financial Centre confirmed that anyone who has a Will registered in Dubai can elect someone who can access their online and social media accounts if the worst should happen. If registrants do not wish to grant access to anyone, instructions can also state that all social media accounts are to be deactivated by an elected executor in the event of death. The clarification was issued following a recent ruling in Germany that confirmed that heirs have the right to access social media accounts of their deceased loved ones. So even after death, our obsession with social media and instant gratification can live on.
At present, some of the biggest social media platforms have varying ways in which accounts can be dealt with once the user has passed away. A third party app on Instagram can memorialise an account after the user dies, but the account can’t be altered in anyway. Facebook lets you appoint a Legacy Contact who can post a final message on your timeline, while Twitter currently doesn’t not allow anyone to have partial access to your account, however, they will work with you to gain access once you can prove the death of a loved one.
While maybe no one is interested in inheriting an account with a few hundred followers, if you’re an influencer or someone such as Huda Kattan who has 26 million followers and a multi million-dollar business that heavily relies on social media, can you really afford not to think about who you’ll leave your passwords to?
