Supreme Court: Instagram account is not an object that can be confiscated

An Instagram account is not an object that is susceptible to seizure, the Supreme Court concluded. The ruling follows a case in which the Public Prosecution Service seized two Instagram accounts. The suspects resisted this and now have been proved right by the Supreme Court.

In a criminal case in which two people were suspected of selling fake designer clothes, the Public Prosecution Service seized two Instagram accounts in 2020. The Public Prosecution Service did this because criminal offenses were allegedly committed using these accounts and stated that the accounts could therefore be forfeited.

The suspects have appealed to the court against this seizure. At the time, the court already ruled that an Instagram account is not an object that is subject to seizure, but the Public Prosecution Service appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, because the court’s judgment would not be legally correct.

The Supreme Court does not agree and states that the court has correctly ruled that an Instagram account cannot be regarded as a case or property right. “That doesn’t change the fact that virtual objects that represent value and are transferable, under certain circumstances, could be classified as such an object”, writes the Supreme Court†

According to the highest civil court, an Instagram account is a “personal opportunity to exchange images or other data” and cannot be compared to virtual objects that represent value. An Instagram account cannot therefore be regarded as ‘a property or a property right’ and is therefore not susceptible to seizure.