Social Media - Entitlement to full use of inherited Instagram accounts
With the widespread use of social media in all age groups, there are issues in the event of death that did not exist previously. The Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) in Oldenburg clarified that heirs have a comprehensive right to use the Instagram account that had been operated by the testator. This includes not just read-only access, but also active use.
In its ruling of 30.12.2024 (case reference: 13 U 116/23), the OLG Oldenburg made a decision on the case of the wife of a deceased well-known singer. As the sole heir, she demanded from Meta - the operator of the Instagram platform - to have unrestricted access to the account of her deceased husband. After his death, Meta had set the account to so-called “memorial status” whereby its active use was no longer possible. Multiple attempts by the heir to regain full access to the profile had been unsuccessful.
The court affirmed the right of the heir. She entered into the existing user relationship between the testator and Meta by way of universal succession in accordance with section 1922 of the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB). This includes all the contractual rights and obligations. Here, the court made reference to a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice according to which digital contents and user accounts are inheritable. Contrary to Meta’s practice, the inheritance right is not restricted to read-only access. In fact, the estate also includes the right to active use - thus, for example, content management, communication or the deletion of the account. Meta’s refusal to grant access accordingly is incompatible with the legal situation.
Platform operators are thus not able to invoke one-sided platform rules or memorial functions if these effectively deny access to the legal heirs. Heirs are entitled to completely take over the user account including all the functions.
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