Employers require you to have a public #Facebook page?

Employers require you to have a public #Facebook page?

This comment appears on the Washington Post story about Facebook’s “trustworthiness” scoring system:

At my company we do not hire people who do not have Facebook accounts or who make their Facebook accounts inaccessible to H.R. and security personnel. It’s very simple, we are looking for a certain type of employee, one who lives a lifestyle that is compatible with our values and corporate mission. If you have anything you need to hide, then seek employment elsewhere. Job seekers, remember that your Facebook is a marketing tool, and the product you are marketing is yourself. Every single post you make, every picture you upload, everything you ‘Like,’ it’s all subject to employer scrutiny. What employers are looking for are physically fit, morally upright, non-political individuals who have enough discretion to avoid posting comments about controversial topics, and who do not feel it necessary to post pictures that might bring discredit to themselves or the organizations they are affiliated with.

Source: Facebook is rating the trustworthiness of its users on a scale from zero to 1 – The Washington Post

This means private sector employees may not express political viewpoints, must be physically fit, of high moral character – and avoid controversy.

In my state, State law protects public sector employees – public employers are prohibited from any actions such as feedback, performance reviews, hiring decisions, etc – based on a public worker’s protected political speech.

Public sector workers can speak freely on political topics while private sector workers are muzzled.

This creates a distorted public discussion of policy issues and is a dangerous path forward where only one group is permitted to engage in public discourse while all others are censored.

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