Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally issued their report and subsequent new regulations surrounding the Netflix case that has been in the news for quite some time. (If you recall, this was one of the more high profile cases related to social media and publicly traded companies and spawned from a simple post about how many hours of viewing had occurred, which the SEC saw as unfair distribution of information as well as non-approved sharing of info that could alter a stock price, etc.)
So what do you need to remember? SEC guidelines prohibit companies that are publicly traded, or agencies that work with publicly traded companies from sharing any information (in email, Facebook posts, tweets, etc.) that could in any way influence trade of the stock.
The safest way to adhere to the rules: don’t talk about anything, ANYTHING, that hints to a good or bad financial situation until it’s been put into a filed report with the SEC. Stay away from any indication of sales, new customer acquisition, or any information that MAY be indicative of growth, failure, or change to the value of a company. And yes, this also means be careful about mentions of meetings among executives with potential partners, competitors, or even financial media.
While the new report and guidelines explain that in some cases public companies may disseminate material, nonpublic information through social media without violating Regulation FD if investors have been told that they can find certain information via social media channels. But in general, you’re better off still steering clear for now. One good turn: the SEC did lighten up (a bit) on the use of personal pages and their potential violations (again, only if the SEC deems that your page as an officer isn’t “expected” or a “normal” place to communicate business.)
Besides, social media should be more about being social: not sharing the yawntastic information about financial outlooks and predictions. Following that social piece alone would have saved, in our research of the last 100 cases, every one of the companies fined.
Many companies are still ignoring regulatory bodies and their impact on social media, or at best they are having their general counsel craft social media policies that when investigated against the real instances that have landed companies and individuals in court would have never saved them anyway. Don’t be that company. Use the social software available to you. Have social media experts work with their special counsel and industry experts to craft REAL policy that matters. And honestly – just be truly social: as those types of messages are never in violation.
