1. What are advantages of laws forbidding employers from accessing employees’ social media activities?
2. What are disadvantages of laws forbidding employers from accessing employees’ social media activities?
3. Is there anything firms can do to keep employees from releasing nonpublic information over social media without infringing on their privacy?

Since the advent of social media in the workplace, many states have begun passing legislation to prevent employers from monitoring their employees’ social media activities. This is done to protect employee privacy. However, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Wall Street are asking regulators to make an exception for employees in the financial industry. Worries of insider trading, potential Ponzi schemes, and influencing stock activity on the market are at the heart of this request. Regulators allow financial firms to communicate information through social media outlets as long as they disclose to the investor where, when, and how they plan to divulge this information. While the requested amendment to the privacy laws will only be put to use if an employee is suspected of releasing unwarranted information, critics believe that such an exception will erode employee privacy altogether.