ALL ABOUT REPUTATION

Hearst Urges Staffers to Tattle on Their Colleagues’ Social Media Posts

Even a simple “like” could reportedly result in someone losing their job, according to the publishing giant’s new social media policy.

Hearst Magazines, which owns titles like Cosmopolitan and Esquire, has introduced a new social media policy that threatens to fire staffers for simply “liking” controversial material and encourages employees to tattle on colleagues who post content that breaks the new rules. On Monday, Hearst sent out an email, shared with The Washington Post, that announced the new regulations. “We should be careful to consider the impact that a controversial statement on a hot-button issue may have on Hearst’s reputation,” the internal document reads. Although it doesn’t explicitly mention the conflict, this strategy comes amid the Israel-Hamas war where reporters and editors on both sides have come under fire for voicing their opinions.