SEC says companies can make announcements via social media

On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is OK for public companies to make key announcements through social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, as long as these companies first indicate they’ll be using social media to communicate.

The SEC’s acting enforcement director, George Canellos, issued the following statement:

“One set of shareholders should not be able to get a jump on other shareholders just because the company is selectively disclosing important information. Most social media are perfectly suitable methods for communicating with investors, but not if the access is restricted or if investors don’t know that’s where they need to turn to get the latest news.”

According to the Chicago Tribune: