Escape

Wording to limit online posts about you and the children

If your ex-partner posts information online about you or the children

Provide definitions

When talking about a technology concept, like social media or cyberbullying, it’s good to provide a definition in a court order. This can prevent the ex-partner from taking advantage of changes in technology or claiming that he didn’t understand what was meant.

Here is a sample definition of social media:

Social media is defined to include websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking, including (but not limited to): X, FaceBook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, group texts/chats, FaceBook Messenger, websites belonging to [name of ex-partner], YouTube, or any similar website or social media platform

Wording to stop abusive posts

Judges have the authority to stop a person from posting certain information online. This is a general statement that some judges include in family court orders to prevent tech abuse:

Neither parent will post any pictures on social media of the other parent or the children nor make any derogatory comments about the other parent on social media.

However, abusers find ways to work around general statements. Detailed wording can say exactly what the ex-partner should not do. This way he can be more easily held accountable if he breaches the order.

The court order should identify the name of the abuser, followed by “shall not” and a list of activities you want stopped. See below for some examples of terms in other family court cases. Working with a lawyer or Family Court Support Worker, select items from this list that apply to your situation.

[name of ex-partner] shall not

  • monitor social media accounts of [names of mother and children], which includes monitoring their accounts via his personal social media accounts or the accounts of any other people or aliases he has created
  • comment on or “like/love/dislike, ” photos of [names of mother and children] on social media or share/repost photos of via any means
  • post comments on the internet about [names of mother and children] about the court case and the family’s involvement with police or local child protection authorities
  • post any information of any kind, whether direct or indirect, that identifies the child including any reference to the child by association such as referring to the child as “my son/daughter” or “our child”
  • post or distribute any photographs, documents, audio and video recordings, communication, texts, or any other information about [names of mother and children] on the internet and social media, or through any other individuals, corporations or entities
  • publish, distribute or share images or partial images of [names of mother and children] by any means whatsoever unless there is prior written agreement that he may do so
  • share any personal information about [names of mother and children] on any internet platform, including but not limited to [name of children]‘s or [name of woman]‘s date of birth and health information
  • post any court documents related to this proceeding or any other family, criminal or child protection case regarding [names of woman and children].
  • share embarrassing or cruel content about [names of woman and children] for any reason, and specifically shall not do so for the purpose of impersonating, doxing, stalking, or electronic surveillance
  • post any defamatory or negative information on any internet platform about [names of mother and children]
  • direct any threats, insults, slurs or profanity towards [names of mother and children] by any means whatsoever
  • create a social media account under an alias that has not been disclosed to the court and listed herein [list account names]

Wording that ex-partner cannot involve others

The judge can order that the ex-partner cannot involve others in the online abuse (see Rubio v. Leigh, 2024 ONSC 6215). Here’s a wording example:

[name of ex-partner] shall not

  • encourage or facilitate others to engage in any of the conduct prohibited by [refer to the where the conduct is described earlier]; and
  • display, post, tag, publicize or broadcast on any form of media, including social, broadcast, written or audio media, about any activity by other persons where the activity engaged in by other persons is prohibited by [refer to the where the prohibited activities are described earlier].

Wording requiring the removal of posts already made

The court can also make a person take down posts they have already made (see S.B. v. J.I.U., 2021 ONCJ 614 and B.M. v. J.G, 2025 ONCJ 72).

[name of ex-partner] shall, within _____ days, remove from the internet all internet and/or social media postings made directly or indirectly by him that are:

Include anything posted on the internet that you want removed. The following are examples:

Photographs, text, documents, transcripts, images, discussions, audio and video recordings of the mother or the children or their personal effects

Comments about the mother, the children and the court case

Postings showing personal identifying information about the children

When needing to request a third party to remove content

The court can give a woman permission to ask a technology company to remove content and close the ex-partner’s account. If the company does not, she can seek legal help to force the company to do so (see B.M. v. J.G, 2025 ONCJ 72). Here are some wording examples:

If any content described remains, or any content described is added, [name of woman] shall put any internet service providers, websites, website hosts, or social media companies on notice that the court has ordered this material to be removed and they shall ask those organizations to remove the content and close [name of ex-partner]‘s accounts.

If those organizations do not respond within 30 days, then the mother may bring a motion, on notice to the organization, for an order to compel the appropriate organization to remove the content and/or close accounts.