With the internet being such a significant part of our daily lives and the cost of hiring increasing, employers are increasingly using social media screening for employment to assess candidates. In some roles, social media screening can be important for verifying a candidate’s suitability for the job. However, it can sometimes be controversial and surrounded by privacy regulations that employers need to be very careful about.
In this article, we’ll examine the basics of social media screening, discover why some employers check candidates’ social media accounts, and explore the regulations that employers must follow during pre-employment social media screening.
what is social media screening?
During a social media screening (sometimes called a social media background check), an employer researches a candidate’s presence online and on social media platforms before making a job offer. Social media screenings involve examining the candidate’s profiles and the content they have published on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Instagram or other platforms.
when do employers conduct social media screenings?
Employers may conduct screenings at different points in the recruitment process. Some will start before an interview is booked to uncover any issues that may make the candidate unsuitable for the job. Others conduct them later, potentially simultaneously as the reference check or pre-employment background check.
how common is social media screening among employers?
Figures on the number of employers that conduct social media screenings vary significantly, mainly depending on the employer’s country or industry. Numbers published in Harvard Business Review show that as many as 70% of employers in the USA check some candidates’ social media profiles at some point during the recruitment process, and 54% have rejected a candidate based on what they have uncovered.
However, social media background screening seems to be less common in the EU, mostly due to the effects of privacy regulations that we’ll examine in more detail later in this article.
Evidence also shows that screening is more common in specific industries where personal integrity is essential, such as financial services or specialized roles that require security clearance.
what are the benefits of social media screening for employers?
- It can uncover potential hiring risks and prevent negligent hiring — Everyone has the right to a personal life outside of work, and the majority of employers respect the boundaries between work life and private life, as long as employees are performing well.
However, many employers also expect their staff to meet a certain standard of behavior, even outside of the office. This can be particularly important in roles that require working with vulnerable people, accessing sensitive information or maintaining a high level of trust with customers and colleagues.
Employers that conduct social media screenings argue they help verify the candidate meets the basic levels of ethical, lawful and respectful behavior that they expect.
- It can verify the claims the candidate made in their application — Unfortunately, it’s a fact that some candidates lie in job applications. The exact proportion is unclear, but research from ResumeLab puts it as high as 70%. Social media screening can’t reveal everything, but some employers say it helps verify the basics.
For example, if a candidate’s resume says they worked in a foreign country but you can’t find any evidence of travel on their Facebook profile, it could suggest they’re not telling the truth.
- It can help assess the candidate’s potential cultural and values fit — Qualifications and experience are important, but for long-term success and high retention, a candidate needs to fit into the company’s culture and share its fundamental values. Organizations that use screening would say a candidate’s social media presence can show whether they’re a good match on a personal level.
For example, if the company culture emphasizes extroversion and social interaction, a very introverted and shy candidate might make them a poor cultural fit. Discovering something like this in a social media screening probably isn’t a reason to reject a candidate immediately, but it could be something to investigate further in the interview stage.
how does social media screening work for employers?
The most basic social media screenings involve the employer finding the candidate’s profiles on a range of platforms (or using links the candidate has provided) and checking what they’ve shared, liked, posted or commented on. However, some employers go into more detail, taking help from specialized social media screening companies that offer AI-powered screening technology that delves deep into a candidate’s entire online presence and social network. These companies typically also provide additional services, such as advanced compliance measures that ensure screening follows privacy regulations or continuous monitoring services that keep an eye on candidates even after joining the company.
However, all social media screening is limited by what the candidate shares online. If their private life is filled with unethical, illegal behavior but they don’t post about it on social media, no amount of screening will be able to detect it. This is why social media screening can create a false sense of security. For that reason, social media screening should always be just one part of a more extensive pre-employment check process and not the only part.
is social media screening legal?
As social media screening has become more common, privacy regulations have adapted to limit what employers can do. These regulations vary worldwide, but many countries have laws that impact the permitted scope of social media screening.
what canadian law says about social media screening?
In Canada, the legal framework is governed by federal and provincial Privacy Legislation (such as the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act or PIPEDA) and Human Rights Legislation. These laws don't explicitly ban social media screening but impose strict rules on the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information during the hiring process.
The fundamental principle across Canadian privacy law is that any personal information collected must be for a purpose that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
Key rules and guidelines employers need to comply with include:
- Necessity and relevance: Employers can only collect information that is relevant and necessary to assess the candidate's suitability for the specific role (e.g., job-related competence, professionalism, or compliance with bona fide occupational requirements).
- No assumption of consent: Employers cannot assume they have consent to process information simply because the candidate’s social media profiles are public.
- Meaningful consent (Generally Required): Employers must generally obtain meaningful consent from the candidate before collecting their personal information. They must be transparent about the purpose of the collection.
- Prohibited access: An employer has no legal ground to ask or require the candidate to provide their social media passwords or login credentials to access private profiles for screening purposes. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) considers this an inappropriate collection.
- Limiting retention: Personal information gathered should only be retained for as long as is necessary to fulfill the identified purpose (i.e., making the hiring decision).
- Transparency: The employer must inform the candidate that their social media profiles may be screened before the recruitment process starts.
With these guidelines in mind, Canadian employers need to be very clear about why, when, and how they plan to run social media screenings before they start.
what other regulations have an impact on social media screening?
In addition to these specific privacy rules, employers must also be fully compliant with Federal and Provincial Human Rights Legislation, which prohibits using personal information to discriminate against job applicants.
By their nature, social media screenings involve gathering information about a candidate’s personal life. This information could inadvertently reveal characteristics protected under Canadian Human Rights Acts, including:
- Racial or ethnic origin, colour, or ancestry
- Political or religious beliefs (creed)
- Trade union membership (in some jurisdictions)
- Disability, health, or perceived disability
- Marital or family status
- Sexual orientation or gender identity/expression
- Record of offences (where a pardon has been granted or a record suspended)
In Canada, information related to these characteristics is strictly protected. Employers cannot use this information to make a hiring decision unless a characteristic is a Bona Fide Occupational Requirement (BFOR) for the job (which is extremely rare).
Employers who conduct social media screenings run serious risks of inadvertently gathering and storing protected information or unconsciously allowing it to influence their hiring decisions, which can lead to serious legal trouble and a human rights complaint. The challenge is that once a decision-maker "sees" this information, it is difficult to prove the decision was not influenced by it.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to get detailed legal advice and develop a transparent, compliant screening process before considering using information gathered via social media in your pre-employment check process.
stay aware of the different kinds of pre-employment checks
If your company runs reference checks, employment background checks or conducts social media screenings, it’s essential to know the difference and when you should use them. Stay updated and get a standard set of definitions with our pre-employment checks infographic, which covers these three processes and explains their fundamental differences. It’s in slide format and is perfect for printing out or rebranding and using in your internal presentations.