At the intersection of social media and law today is whether employers can or should ask job candidates for their Facebook login information as part of the interview process or force candidates or employees to “Friend” someone at the company.
Several recent situations are raising this issue:
•The Maryland Department of Corrections used to ask applicants for password information. After a complaint by the Maryland Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, it now asks applicants to log in themselves during the interview so the interviewer can look over their shoulders to monitor social media use.
•UNC employs an outside social media monitoring service called Varsity Monitor to watch what its athletes are saying online. This partly stems from the recent NCAA sanctions for violations in the football program. The NCAA alleged that adequate and consistent monitoring of Tarheel athletes’ social media use would have revealed potential amateurism violations.
•This North Carolina police department job application explicitly asks for usernames and passwords for social media accounts. Bozeman, Montana has been doing this for a while.
•In Spotsylvania Virginia, law enforcement employees are forced to log onto social media accounts and scroll through while interviewers watch.
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