Disclosing Corporate Information Via Social Media: After Investigating the CEO of Netflix, the SEC Releases Helpful Guidance

As social media becomes more pervasive in today's society, it has become an important part of many companies' communications, marketing and public relations strategies. More and more companies and their executives are incorporating Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the like into their communications strategies in an effort to reach larger and more targeted audiences. In doing so, they often step into grey areas of securities laws. On April 2, 2013, the SEC published a Report on Investigation that, once again, provides guidance designed to reconcile the growing tension between securities laws and the new forms of electronic, and specifically social media, communications.