Social media policy
A social media policy that protects the company's interests without overreaching into employees' protected off-duty speech.
Social Media Policy
Effective
1. Purpose
Social media is part of how talks to the world and how our team members express themselves. This policy clarifies what's expected when those two things overlap.
2. Official Company channels
Official Company social media accounts (the corporate website, Company-branded LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, and others) are administered by . Only authorized people post to these channels. The Company reviews content before posting where it relates to financial results, legal matters, customer communications, or sensitive topics.
3. Personal accounts
On your personal accounts, the basics: don't disclose non-public Company, customer, or partner information. Don't claim to speak on the Company's behalf. If your bio identifies you as employed by the Company, a brief disclaimer ("views are my own") is good practice.
4. Endorsements & reviews
If you post about the Company's products, customers, or partners on personal accounts, disclose your relationship — "I work at " or similar. The FTC (US), Competition Bureau (Canada), and major platforms all require this for content the audience could reasonably interpret as an endorsement.
5. Harassment & respect
Harassment, threats, or discriminatory speech directed at colleagues, customers, or partners — whether on Company channels, personal channels, or DMs — is treated under the Company's Workplace Harassment, Violence & Discrimination Policy regardless of where it occurred.
6. Confidentiality & IP
Don't post non-public information about products, customers, finances, internal disagreements, or unannounced plans. Your obligations under the Confidentiality & IP Assignment Agreement signed at hire continue to apply on social media.
7. Protected speech
Nothing in this policy is intended to prevent employees from discussing wages, hours, or working conditions with each other or from raising concerns with regulators or the labour board. Off-duty speech on personal accounts that doesn't reasonably damage the Company's legitimate interests is not the Company's concern.
8. Crisis & reporting
If you see something on social media that looks like a Company crisis (a viral complaint, a security disclosure, a misleading post about us), don't engage publicly — forward it to . Speed matters; the right people will respond.
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Made with WalnutsHR Paper · Reviewed for Ontario · April 2026
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No compliance hints for this jurisdiction yet — your document looks good for the basics. Have a lawyer review before sending anything consequential.
About this template
Most social media policies fail in the same way: they overreach, try to police off-duty speech, and end up either unenforceable or exposing the company to NLRB / labour-relations complaints. This template stays on the right side of that line.
When to use it
- You're publishing or refreshing a handbook.
- You've had a public incident that highlighted a gap.
- You operate in a regulated industry where additional restrictions apply (financial services, healthcare).
What to include
- Clear separation between official Company channels and personal accounts.
- Endorsement-disclosure language (FTC / Competition Bureau).
- Confidentiality reinforcement — by reference, don't restate.
- Protected-speech carve-out: off-duty speech and concerted activity.
- Crisis-handoff procedure rather than ad-hoc public engagement.
Frequently asked questions
Can we discipline an employee for ranting about us on a personal account?
Sometimes — but the bar is high. The post has to materially damage the Company's legitimate interests (e.g., disclose confidential information, harass a coworker, threaten violence) for discipline to be defensible. Generic complaints about working conditions are usually protected.
Can we require employees to scrub their social media before joining?
You can ask, you generally can't compel. Some industries (financial services with FINRA, certain regulated professions) have specific obligations. For everyone else, focus the policy on going-forward behaviour rather than retroactive scrubbing.
What about employee-generated content for marketing?
Build a separate, opt-in employee advocacy program with explicit consent for using their content on Company channels. Don't conflate it with this policy.
Legal disclaimer. In the US, NLRB Section 7 protected concerted activity covers a lot of social media speech that companies wish it didn't. In Canada, off-duty conduct is generally protected unless it materially harms the company or the employment relationship (the bar is high). Overly broad social media policies have been struck down or used as evidence of bad faith in wrongful-dismissal claims.
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