The issue has been on fire for months — should employers be able to require potential or current employees provide them with access to their social media accounts? My stance on the issue is fairly simple: absolutely not.
Personal social media accounts are a snapshot – even a diary – of your life. Would a employer be permitted for you to share your physical diary with them? Of course not.
If a user decides to make their social media posts public, the employer is more than entitled to view the content. But if a user marks their content private, I don’t believe it’s fair to require employees to share access. Privacy is privacy and we’re all entitled to it. Especially if our social media accounts are marked as such.
I have to give kudos to my home state of Maryland who recently passed legislation blocking employers from requesting social media passwords. You can read an article on the legislation here. Maryland is the first state in the country to pass such a law and I suspect many will follow.
What is your opinion on the matter? Do you think employers should be given access to their employees social media accounts?
