LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE INHERITANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CIVIL INHERITANCE LAW

Abstract

The rapid development of information technology has given rise to various forms of digital assets, including social media accounts, which now hold significant economic and sentimental value for their owners. The absence of a clear legal framework in Indonesia creates ambiguity and legal issues upon the death of an account owner, particularly regarding the status of the account in an estate. This raises important questions regarding the rights and obligations of heirs to access or manage these digital assets. Therefore, this study aims to analyze and legally describe the status of social media accounts as objects of inheritance from the perspective of Civil Inheritance Law.

            This research uses a normative legal research method (doctrinal legal research), namely by examining primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials. The approaches used include a statute approach and a conceptual approach. Data were collected through literature review and analyzed descriptively and qualitatively.

            The research results show that social media accounts can be categorized as digital assets with two aspects of rights: property rights (economic value) and moral rights (privacy and identity). Under Civil Inheritance Law (BW), social media accounts are considered intangible assets that can be part of an inheritance. However, inheritance is hampered by the platform's terms of service, which mostly prohibit the transfer of rights or require account closure upon the owner's death. Therefore, inheritance of social media accounts cannot be done automatically but must be subject to the platform's Terms of Service, leading to two main solutions: first, permanent account closure, or second, account conversion into a memorial account. To address this conflict, national regulations governing digital inheritance are recommended, as well as the importance of account owners creating a digital will or using the legacy contact feature provided by social media platforms.