Legal experts in the UAE are calling on social media firms to allow people to provide plans for how their accounts should be dealt with when they die amid growing concerns over digital inheritance. The call comes as social media has become a mainstream part of many people’s lives, and social media accounts are often intertwined with personal identities emphasizing more social media legacy options.
“If something isn’t owned, it cannot be inherited,” noted Romano Dolbey, head of the Wills and Inheritance Department at James Berry and Associates Legal Consultants. Dolbey stressed that social media accounts should not be viewed merely as licenses between users, which complicates inheritance. “It was brought up in Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi on November 20,” pointed out Dolbey, “and legal experts debated whether digital assets could indeed be passed on to heirs.”.
There exists a great deal of sophistication in jurisdictional issues because of the global nature of social media company activities, where each has its own laws regarding property and inheritance. He stressed that statutory laws be established to ascertain what should be considered an asset pertaining to digital accounts. “We have to redefine what is called an asset,” he said.
Privacy concerns also arose, as social media accounts often contain sensitive information. Dolbey suggested that wills should specify how digital accounts are managed after death, with provisions for restricting access unless explicitly permitted. He proposed that social media platforms allow users to designate a digital heir or decide whether to memorialize, delete, or transfer accounts.
International family law experts like Byron James opined that clearer regulations are needed. Germany, for instance, recently ruled that one’s social media profiles should be considered as inheritable properties. The UAE, if stronger legal statues are adopted while keeping in their own traditional laws, may do the same.
Technical expert Mousa Sayed also mentioned that legacy options would be possible to be implemented. Many existing platforms already have the infrastructure to manage data. If security and privacy mechanisms are in place, online legacy options should be able to be managed safely.
