LINCOLN, Neb. — When Karen Williams’ son died in a motorcycle crash, the Oregon woman turned to his Facebook account in hopes of learning more about the young man she had lost.
Williams found his password and e-mailed the company, asking administrators to maintain 22-year-old Loren Williams’ account so she could pore through his posts and comments by his friends. But within two hours, she said, Facebook changed the password, blocking her efforts.
“It was heartbreaking. I was a parent grasping at straws to get anything I could get,” said Williams, recalling her son’s death in 2005.
Now, lawmakers and attorneys in at least two states are considering proposals that would require Facebook and other social networks to grant access to loved ones when a family member dies, essentially making the site contents part of a person’s digital estate. The issue is growing increasingly important as people record more thoughts and experiences online and more disputes break out over that material.
Williams, a second-grade teacher from suburban Portland, ultimately got back into her son’s account, but it took a two-year legal battle that ended with Facebook granting her 10 months of access before her son’s page was removed.
Last year, Oklahoma became the first state to take action, and Nebraska is reviewing legislation modeled on that law.
Like Oklahoma, the Nebraska bill would allow friends or relatives to take control of social media accounts if the deceased person lived in the state.
Oregon could be the next state to take up the issue.
