Social Media Screening: What You Need to Know

Social media screening has become a hot topic in the industry and for good reason. It was discouraged by legal counsel and was thought of as a very risky hiring practice. The pre-employment screening landscape has changed, and now social media screening is a common hiring practice for commercial organizations and the federal government. Today, many organizations still question the legality of this screening practice.

Is Social Media Background Screening Legal?

The short answer is yes, social media screening was ruled to be a legal practice by the Federal Trade Commission; however, certain social media screening practices are illegal and could lead to serious consequences. Illegal practices could include asking an applicant for usernames and passwords or requiring they friend or follow you. These practices are illegal in over half of the United States. Companies often get in trouble when they try to conduct social media searches on their own and risk violation of EEOC laws. The best way to remain compliant is to trust a CRA that to run your social media reports. MYB, like other CRAs, remains in legal compliance with their criminal background screening as well as their social media screening. 

Is Social Media Screening Right for Your Company?

Yes, social media screening is the perfect addition to criminal background screening and will give you good insight into your new hire. Today, social media history is public information that plays an important role in ensuring new hires will appropriately represent your company. MYB’s AI-powered cloud process can provide the ability to perform social media checks to identify content created, posted, shared, or interacted with by a candidate. Ultimately, the more information you have about your new hires, the more empowered you will be in making the right hiring decisions. 

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