Hearst Magazines Introduces Strict Social Media Policy, Prompts Complaint from Writers Guild of America East

New policy, asking employees to report colleagues for 'objectionable' personal social media posts relating to 'hot-button' issues, threatens termination while failing to explicitly define the violating content, spurring a union complaint and calls for negotiation from Writers Guild of America East.

• Hearst Magazines, the media conglomerate, has introduced a new employee social media policy that encourages reporting colleagues' personal social media behavior, specifically flagged as 'objectionable' postings or interactions on 'hot-button' issues.
• The social media rule, seemingly triggered by editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, Samira Nasr's controversial comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict, does not specifically outline what constitutes 'objectionable', yet requests employees to endorse it, raising uncertainty over the guideline's bounds.
• Critiqued for its vagueness, the policy extends beyond professional to private personal social media accounts, and grants Hearst the right to remove 'violating' posts from employees' personal accounts; 'likes' and reposts are also categorically included under potential violation.
• Despite standard practice of media companies having social media guidelines for staff, Hearst's policy comes off as extreme with its potential termination threat for 'rule-breaking,' the failure to offer clarity on what constitutes violation, and urging staff to inform on colleagues.
• The Writers Guild of America East, representing Hearst's editorial staff, has lodged a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the rule, which it argues should have been negotiated with the union first, and has advised members not to agree to the new policy.

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