SOCIALMEDIAARTICLE
017
“In total, there are
at least twenty
states that have
now enacted
laws restricting
employers’ access
to social media or
electronic mail,
with more states
certain to follow.”
to review public information, such as information that may be
available to the general public on an applicant’s social media
pages. This would include any information that is not protected
as confidential. One primary area of debate is an employer’s
access to private social media information during an internal
investigation regarding claims of harassment or intimidation.
Some states, such as Illinois and Nevada, provide no express
exception for workplace investigations. California’s social media
law, on the other hand, provides that an employer may request
that an employee provide social media logins and passwords
when there is a potential violation of law. Arkansas’s laws permit
an employer to ask an employee to provide login credentials in
order to investigate possible work misconduct.
Other Legislation Related to the Access of Social Media and
E-Mail Accounts
Lawmakers have broadened the scope of these social media
laws to include more than just employers. Several states have
adopted, or attempted to adopt, legislation regarding access by
educational institutions to social media. For example, Illinois
passed a law that makes it unlawful for a school to request or
require a student or prospective student to provide a password
or other related account information in order to gain access to
the student’s or prospective student’s account or profile on a
social networking website. Louisiana passed a law that applies
to both employers and educational institutions, which prohibits
requesting individuals to disclose information that allows access
to or observation of personal online accounts.
In 2011, the Arizona Senate introduced SB 1411, which prohibited
employers from requesting or requiring a user name, password
or other means of accessing an online personal account from
employees or applicants. SB 1411 also prohibited an employer
from not hiring an applicant for the applicant’s refusal to disclose
social media information. The bill was not passed out of the
Rules Committee.
The California Legislature introduced Assembly Bill 2070, which
would have prohibited a court from requiring or requesting a
juror or prospective juror to disclose a username or password
for the purposes of accessing personal social media or requiting
that the juror or potential juror access social media in the
presence of the judge, counsel, or any officer of the court. The
legislation was not heard in committee. To date, there have been
no other states to introduce legislation regarding requests for
prospective jurors’ confidential login information.
Conclusion
Social media accounts undoubtedly provide a wealth of
information about a person, both public and private. State
lawmakers are attempting to combat access to this information
by employers and others, in an effort to keep this information
private and confidential. As