In recent decades, digital evidence have assumed a central role in judicial proceedings. The physical documents, oral testimonies and material tests have been joined by emails, chats, audio recordings, metadata, geolocation and blockchain. Now WhatsApp screenshots can be used as documentary tests.
It looked like a ordinary civil case between a private individual and a window of windows. The customer had paid only one third of the established figures, the company asked that the agreements were respected and therefore that the private individual paid the complete service. The Court of Pavia initially accepted the customer’s thesis, there were in fact no evidence that confirmed the agreements on payment, yet the Milan Court of Appeal overturned the sentence. All thanks to a message on WhatsApp.
A screenshot of the invoice presented as proof confirmed that the initial agreements had not been respected by the customer. And so for the first time the value is recognized evidentiary to digital messaging WhatsApp in civil judgments. Screenshots can therefore be used as documentary tests, except for the dispute of authenticity.
How the Screeenshots work
With the ordinance 1254/2025, the Cassation recognized the value evidentiary Of WhatsApp in civil judgments. WhatsApp messages are electronic documents legally relevant even if not signed. Therefore fall within the list of computer reproductions provided for by article 2712 of the civil code. They therefore have full effectiveness and can be legitimately acquired through simple photographic reproduction. However, the origin and reliability of the screenshots must be verified, they can be fundamental Accessory testssuch as metadata, confirmation email, server extracts or notary recordings.
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Not only that, so that WhatsApp is considered a valid test not only the device must be identifiable but also attributed to a specific person, the screenshot then must not be manipulated. Finally non must be contested by the counterparty, In fact, if authenticity is denied, the screenshot may not be considered valid.
The evolution of digital evidence
In recent decades, digital evidence have taken on a central role in judicial proceedings. For example with the article 20 of the digital administration code (CAD) The IT documents have acquired the same evidentiary value as the paper ones as long as they respect specific authenticity criteria. The physical documents, oral testimonies and material tests have been joined by emails, chats, audio recordings, metadata, geolocation and blockchain. Simpler tests to modify and therefore evaluate authenticity. Consequently, forensic computer science has assumed a central role in the verification of digital tests.
Several judgments have gradually recognized the evidentiary value of digital evidence. The Court of Milan in 2016 considered valid an email without digital signature who had not been contested. The Court of Rome in 2018 used as a test of online defamation A post on Facebook. Now also WhatsApp screenshots can be used as documentary tests.
