I've blogged previously about CEO blogging (see my posts here and here). Now, The Economist is reporting that the 800 or so CEOs and chairmen in attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland are being encouraged to start blogging.
Although I favor giving shareholders more timely and useful information, I am skeptical that CEO blogging is the way to do it. And if I were a CEO, I would avoid blogging until the liability issues are addressed. Even The Economist notes that most CEOs probably view blogging "as a reckless risk in the liability-laden world. . . ."
A CEO blog could be a good way to reach certain groups of people and make the CEO seem human, but unless the general counsel is peering over the CEO's shoulder, it's too risky without the creation of safe harbors. In particular, I believe that corporations face Reg FD compliance issues and security issues. In addition, there's no body of law to address what a company's liability will be under the federal securities laws if misleading information is posted.
2 comments:
Good points. And who wants to read a blog that has been vetted by lawyers.
How interesting! I am a Dutch business student and momentarily writing my thesis while working as an intern for a corporate governance consultancy agency. Last December I wrote an article on corporate blogging, which was published in Het Financieele Dagblad (equivalent of the FT) If you are interested I could sent you a copy (with translation)
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