Social media risks: What you should know

What are the liabilities governing blogs and other social media vehicles? Does the risk mean you should prohibit blogging by corporate officers?

Allowing employees to blog, tweet or post Facebook updates is obviously more risky than not permitting anything outside the standard channels. Especially if those employees are C-Level executives or the CEO, where regulations exist which govern the disclosure of information by publicly traded companies.

When Web 2.0 rubs up against the staid world of investor relations, finance and legal departments there will inevitably be some friction. But rather than implement a blanket prohibition against any and all communication of corporate information, we need to be aware of the regulations and plan accordingly.

The surprising fact is, social media are often more congruent with regulations than not. Consider the Securities and Commission (SEC) and their Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD).

Reg FD — now a blog friendly regulation