SEC relaxes restrictions on companies' use of social media

     The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says that companies can use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to announce key information as long as they alert investors about which websites they plan to use for such disclosures.

      The SEC said it would apply its disclosure rules to social media and other emerging forms of communication in the same way that it applies those rules to the websites of public companies.

      The announcement stems from a post last July on the personal Facebook page of Netflix's chief executive, sharing company information that the SEC said had not been revealed through more traditional means. The SEC said it did not initiate an enforcement action or allege wrongdoing in that case. -- Reuters