Who am I on LinkedIn?

I woke up today morning to an interesting piece of news from Endpoints [Pharma watchdog calls out AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline for breaches on online conduct – Endpoints News (endpts.com)](https://endpts.com/uk-pharma-watchdog-calls-out-big-pharma-companies-for-use-of-social-media/)

UK regulator PMCPA (Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority) identified five life sciences firms' promotions in breach of ABPI code ([Britannia, AstraZeneca, Allergan, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi named in advertisements for breaches of the ABPI Code (pmcpa.org.uk)](https://www.pmcpa.org.uk/about-us/media/news/britannia-astrazeneca-allergan-glaxosmithkline-and-sanofi-named-in-advertisements-for-breaches-of-the-abpi-code/))

For Allergan, it was found in breach of the rules because its employees had liked or commented on a LinkedIn post created by a GP/ CEO of a medical aesthetics clinic. The complainant alleged that liking and commenting on the post amounted to unlawful promotion ([AUTH/3431/11/20 - Complainant v Allergan (pmcpa.org.uk)](https://www.pmcpa.org.uk/cases/completed-cases/auth34311120-complainant-v-allergan/#:~:text=following%20receipt%20of%20the%20current%20complaint%20(Case%20AUTH/3431/11/20))

This brings me to the crux of this article.

Who am I on LinkedIn?

Am I Sandeep Upadhyay, a private person on a professional social platform for professional networking? Or am I Sandeep Upadhyay, an employee of my current employer and my current employer could be held liable for my activities on the platform.

Could the converse be true as well? Could I be held liable or associated with activities that my current employer has on LinkedIn.

This is a hard question to answer. Most of us assume that we are on LinkedIn in a personal capacity and our actions on LinkedIn (or other social platforms) are personal expressions.

However, the actions of PMCPA in this case are setting a precedent that the employer is liable for an employee's activities on LinkedIn. Should this precedent hold, there are some critical questions that it raises

• Should employers formalize a code of conduct for employees using LinkedIn in a personal capacity to avoid liability? and/ or
• Should employees not list their employers on LinkedIn? and/ or
• Should employers track employee's LinkedIn activity or require employees to get any content they want to publish to be pre-approved before it is published? and/ or
• Should employees get approval from their employers on what posts they can like or comment?

At least on LinkedIn, there has been a convergence of our personal and professional identities. Yes, our activities are personal, but they are driven towards the professional space.

Whatever be the answer to the questions above, I believe that these recent events will trigger some level of unbundling of our personal and professional identities on LinkedIn (and other platforms).

What are your thoughts on this development?