SEC says companies can announce key information on social media

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that companies can use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to announce key information as long as they alert investors about which sites 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 regulator's 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.

(Reporting By Emily Stephenson; Editing by Gary Hill)