Sharing Facebook Content: Will Regulators Care?

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Riddle me this, Batman. Scanning your Facebook’s news feed, amid all the shiny baubles and irrelevant nonsense, you stumble upon a gem! 

This, you think, could be of real interest to your current and potential clients. You want to pass it along with a simple click of the link labeled “Share.”

That’s okay, isn’t it?

Hmm.  Your employer permits you to use Facebook to engage current and potential clients. You’ve been trained against the social media communications policy and understand what’s allowed and what’s not.  But the policy doesn’t delve into the nuances of Share.

So can you?

This is actually more complicated than it first appears.

Let’s say the post you’re focused on is a news item or a foundation report or something else entirely. First, ask yourself a question. Is the organization that issued the report reputable? Known for its high-quality work?

Clicking Share indicates that you are adopting the content, under the terms of the SEC concept of “Adoption and Entanglement,” and passing it along to others. The content must be “fair and balanced,” cannot contain what could be interpreted as having “false or misleading content” and there must be no reason to believe it could.

Adopting content is not necessarily bad. Sharing is what social media is all about.

But FINRA has made clear in Regulatory Notice 11-39: Guidance on Social Networking Websites and..., Q&A-11, that when you adopt something, you are responsible for the content.

So if the post you want to share meets those criteria, share away.

Let’s look one more time at that post. On closer examination, it’s actually an opinion piece. Though you may think it’s wonderful, under the SEC concept, others may not find it fair and balanced but misleading.

Unless you want to risk the wrath of the regulators, I say don’t Share it.

What do you think?

Need help getting your program off the ground? Contact us. We can help.

SCOTT PETERSON, co-founder of Relay Station Social Media LLC, has over a decade of experience in market and regulatory communications. His firm provides integrated Internet marketing, compliance solutions, training, and more to a wide range of organizations.

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Tagged as: Facebook, FINRA, SEC