Hearts & Minds: Opinions are your own? That’s not the view of the employer

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, there is a reported sharp rise in the US in firms monitoring employees’ social media activity, using AI tools. Workers have been suspended or fired for posts deemed inconsistent with corporate values, even when those posts were made outside work and without mention of their employer.

Ever since Twitter and Facebook took off, there has been a split between personal expression and company reputation. Posts are prefixed with the rider that what follows represents someone’s own views and not those of their employer. That distinction has vanished, if it ever existed at all. Regardless of the prefix, the most media-savvy firms have repeatedly warned there is no difference in the eyes of the world between someone posting as themselves and writing in an official capacity. They are seen as one and the same – particularly if that person is senior. Like it or not, they are brand ambassadors and should behave accordingly. The socio-political climate and the prevalence of AI have raised the bar.

Search tools are scaling up and becoming ever more advanced, flashpoints are multiplying and the old company safety fence has effectively dissolved. HR may be driving the policy but comms must pick up the pieces - high-profile cases can quickly snowball into a full-blown corporate crisis.

What should companies do? Be prepared. Comms leaders must shape the narrative before the narrative shapes them. Set out the company approach, make it available on the website, on the premises, in publicity material, tell employees and stakeholders.

Anything deemed to cross a line, that may cause offence, will not be tolerated. It’s not us, not who we are. Make it clear, say it loud - no if’s and but’s, no capacity for obfuscation, no grey area, no argument. Tell staff: if in doubt, don’t post. Have the messaging ready: the company told them, they were warned, it does not reflect badly on their employer if they then chose to ignore.

In the Second World War, the official, government warning that was proclaimed everywhere was ‘careless talk costs lives’. The simple message was on posters, notice boards, trains, buses, anywhere people went. Of course, there were not spies lurking in every nook and cranny, listening. No matter. It worked. Something similar is required today. Seek advice, agree a way ahead with your strat comms advisors and apply it. Now, before it is too late.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.