WASHINGTON (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission will allow public companies to make significant announcements on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites provided they alert investors which sites they intend to use.
The decision announced Tuesday allows companies to use social media in place of more formal websites.
The question arose after Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings said on his Facebook page in July that subscribers together watched more than 1 billion hours of video for the first time during June, the agency said.
An SEC rule requires that all investors receive significant company information at the same time. By allowing businesses to use more informal channels to share news with investors, the SEC is acknowledging the shift in technology that has made social media indispensable for the largest and most powerful corporations.
One key requirement is that companies alert investors in press releases or regulatory filings as to where they plan to disseminate information that could potentially affect the price of the company's stock.
Although Hastings didn't provide any further details, the statistic implied that the usage of Netflix's Internet video library had increased significantly since the company had last provided viewership numbers six months earlier. Analysts interpreted the new viewership numbers as a sign that Netflix either hit the top end of its second-quarter goal for streaming subscribers or exceeded it.
