It’s inevitable that the social media “iron curtain” would fall. The government has banned Marines from using it – and now ESPN, along with some NFL teams, have restricted its use.
(For anyone who has been living under the proverbial Twitter rock, most NFL teams are no longer allowed to tweet during games or practice, while ESPN employees cannot post anything sports-related through social media. Marines are excluded from all social media for one year.)
Just as I was typing this blog, this tweet from George Diaz, a sports columnist at the Orlando Sentinel, appeared in my Twitter feed: Are the corporate tweets at ESPN stifling free speech by issuing guidelines to employees on social networking? R they going too far?
Apparently I’m not the only one wondering about the implication of these restrictions – and whether or not this censorship violates the right of free speech as protected in the First Amendment. Note Schenk v. the United States (1919): A restriction is legitimate only if the speech in question poses a “clear and present danger” – i.e., a risk or threat to safety or to other public interests that is serious and imminent.
In 1919, the federal courts would have had no idea how we would assimilate information 90 years later, and obviously, I can see how Marines tweeting about locations of top secret missions could be a threat to national security – both a serious and imminent one. But ESPN? Football?
I’m all for establishing guidelines in the professional realm – employees need to remember that they represent their employer. If you’re using social media professionally, then you must be smart about it. Spilling company secrets or bashing your boss are sure ways to find yourself in the unemployment line – or worse.
Bottom-line: Don’t be stupid.
However, what ESPN has done transcends the professional sphere and gets personal. ESPN employees are no longer allowed to maintain personal blogs, tweet or otherwise use social media for anything sports-related, without approval from a supervisor. I’m operating under the assumption that ESPN employees have a greater love than most for sports, so imposing restrictions such as these would, in fact, prohibit their freedom of speech. And, in a day and age when access to information is instant, waiting for a supervisor’s approval could make the information irrelevant.
And what about the NFL? For example, Green Bay Packers players who tweet during games or practice will be fined for doing so; however, they are free to embrace social media otherwise. Is this an acceptable form of restriction? Basically, the “do it on your own time” mantra? Perhaps NFL franchises would prefer to keep their eye on the game and are less concerned with the content of their “off the field” status updates.
Admittedly, with the use of social media and instant availability of information, the lines of professional and personal communications have never been more blurred. But who should dictate how this is used? Should it be up to the individual to understand what is appropriate information to share – or should we not be trusted enough to disseminate information on our own accord?
So, what’s your call? I say, “Fumble.”
Update: This blog went live last Friday, and in the days since, more social media restrictions have been imposed. Additional information can be found here at Mashable.com.
Now, the SEC (Southeastern Conference) is banning ticketholders from using social media of any kind during collegiate football games.
It seems to me that fans tweeting or posting Facebook status updates during games would create more excitement – and result in more people turning on the game …not the opposite. Would fans really prefer to watch a grainy YouTube.com video versus the real thing on TV? Or read a play-by-play in 140 character bursts? I think not.
This policy is ridiculous for many reasons – and the main one doesn’t even have anything to do with social media per se. It’s about the logistics. Who is going to be patrolling the stadiums looking for any sort of illicit cell phone use?
While I can understand that CBS wants to protect its lucrative advertising contract, this policy raises numerous concerns. The most resonating is: What’s next? Is this becoming a new trend because companies don’t understand how consumers use social media?
October 8, 2009
When I first saw this Cingular commercial in early 2007, my first reaction was: “Give me a break. Nobody actually talks like that.” A grammar fanatic at heart, I was still stubbornly writing out and correctly punctuating text messages. Not yet on Twitter, I didn’t even understand the term “character limit.”