Can Screenshots Be Used as "Evidence"?
Online defamation on social media, price displays on e-commerce sites, chat conversations with business partners - when trouble arises, many people instinctively "take a screenshot." But are screenshots actually admissible as legal evidence?
How Screenshots Are Treated in Japanese Courts
To get straight to the point: screenshots can be submitted as evidence in Japanese courts. However, their "weight" as evidence varies depending on the circumstances.
- Admissibility: Screenshots are recognized as "quasi-documents" and are admissible as evidence. They can be submitted to the court
- Probative value: Because they are easy to tamper with, screenshots alone may be judged to have low probative value
- Corroborating evidence: Their probative value increases when combined with other evidence (server logs, communication records, third-party testimony)
In short, the reality is: "You can submit them as evidence, but they're weak on their own."
Screenshots Are Easy to Tamper With
The weakness of screenshots as evidence lies in how easily they can be altered.
- Browser developer tools: Using Chrome's "Inspect" feature, you can freely modify text and images on a web page within the browser. Taking a screenshot of the modified page creates fabricated evidence
- Image editing software: Photoshop or free image editing tools can alter screenshot contents
- Saving HTML: Save a web page as an HTML file, modify the text, then take a screenshot
If the opposing party in a lawsuit claims "this screenshot has been tampered with," the burden of proving it hasn't been altered falls on you.
How to Increase the Reliability of Evidence
- Take a web archive: Since a third-party service saves the page, there's less suspicion of tampering
- Record video: Screen recording captures the entire sequence from the browser's URL bar to the page content. Harder to tamper with than still images
- Preserve metadata: Retain the screenshot's metadata (Exif data) including capture date/time and device information
- Save using multiple methods: Record using multiple approaches - screenshot + web archive + PDF save of the page. This is especially important when preserving evidence of online shopping disputes, where price displays and order confirmations can change quickly
- Notary verification: For important evidence, a notary can verify the screenshot's contents by creating a "factual experiment notarial deed"
Before Social Media Posts Get Deleted
Evidence of defamation or libel needs to be preserved before the other party deletes their post. Teaching children about internet safety should include knowing how to properly preserve evidence of cyberbullying.
- Take a screenshot immediately upon discovery (including the URL bar)
- Save it using a web archive service
- Record the post's URL, the poster's account name, and the posting date/time
- If possible, have a third party also verify the same post
The IP address you can check on IP Check-san is sometimes used to identify the sender of defamatory content. In disclosure requests for sender information under the Provider Liability Limitation Act, the IP address at the time of posting becomes a crucial lead.
Summary
Screenshots can be submitted as evidence in court, but because they're easy to tamper with, they have weak probative value on their own. Combine web archives, video recording, and multiple preservation methods to strengthen the reliability of your evidence.