What are social media background checks? 

A candidate's online presence can provide valuable insight into their behaviour, professionalism, and alignment with an employer’s brand. While traditional hiring processes rely on CVs and structured interviews, social media and adverse media screenings uncover additional context that could influence hiring decisions. 

For recruiters, this means mitigating risks before a candidate joins a client’s workforce. Industries where reputation and trust are paramount—such as finance, law, healthcare, and public-facing roles—are increasingly prioritising these checks as part of their hiring process. In fact, for many recruitment agencies, conducting these screenings has become a critical step in protecting brand reputation and ensuring candidate quality. 

Social media is now a fundamental part of daily life, and with more professionals using it, it's inevitably become an essential factor in the hiring process. One of the most common concerns employers raise is, “Are social media checks even legal?” Currently, there is no specific law prohibiting social media and adverse media background checks in the hiring process. If an account is public, it serves as a candidate’s digital footprint and can be considered as part of their evaluation. However, transparency is key—it’s best practice to inform candidates that their public social media activity will be reviewed as part of the recruitment process. 

Regulatory considerations in social media screening 

In the UK, regulators such as the British Standards Institute (BSI) and The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), along with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), acknowledge that social media checks play a crucial role in assessing a candidate’s suitability for regulated roles. 

For certain industries, social media screening has moved beyond being a best practice to becoming a requirement. For example: 

• NHS England now mandates social media and adverse media checks as part of the Fit and Proper Persons Test for Executive, Non-Executive Director, and Director roles. 
• Financial services firms are increasingly expected to conduct digital footprint assessments to ensure employees maintain professional integrity. 

Alongside social media checks, adverse media checks play an essential role in ensuring candidates meet ethical and professional standards before hiring. These checks evaluate a candidate’s broader online presence by reviewing publicly available sources such as news articles, blogs, legal records, and reports. The goal is to identify any potential reputational risks that could impact the organisation. 

Why are adverse media checks important? 

• Uncover hidden risks – These checks help identify past behaviours or controversies that may not appear in traditional background checks. 
• Verify candidate integrity – They can reveal inconsistencies in employment history or qualifications. 
• Protect company reputation – Avoid potential PR crises by ensuring candidates align with company values. 
• Comply with industry regulations – Many regulated industries require adverse media screening as part of their due diligence. 

For example, NHS England mandates that Executive, Non-Executive Director, and Director roles undergo adverse media and social media screening as part of the Fit and Proper Persons Test. Similarly, organisations in financial services, legal, and education sectors integrate these checks to ensure compliance and maintain public trust. 

These days, employers and recruiters are using social media and adverse media checks to get a clearer picture of who they’re hiring. But how do you do it properly—without crossing any legal or ethical lines? 

Here’s what to keep in mind:  

• Focus on facts, not opinions. Screening tools help remove personal bias from the process. 
• Ensure all social media checks comply with privacy and discrimination laws. Any information used must be legally obtained. 
• Vet all platforms thoroughly and apply the same criteria to every candidate. 
• Document your sources when researching an applicant’s social media accounts to maintain a record of compliance with relevant laws.  
• Use automated screening tools speed up the process and provide reliable insights. 

Employers should seriously consider using screening technology for pre-employment social media and adverse media checks. These checks help ensure candidates align with company values and don’t pose potential risks. Beyond improving hiring decisions, social media screening plays a key role in protecting a company’s reputation. 

Read more: Delivering vetting and screening checks for the recruitment sector by utilising recruitment screening software 

Social media and adverse media checks are now a standard part of recruitment across industries, with some sectors requiring them as part of pre-employment screening, compliance and onboarding process. While some businesses hesitate, fearing privacy concerns, the reality is that ignoring social media risks can lead to reputational damage—or worse, hiring someone engaged in harmful online behaviour. For example, data theft can’t be ruled out from a hire who has a possibly risky social media profile. That’s why many employers won’t take a risk with a potential hire who indulges in nefarious social media activity.   

Ignoring social media and adverse media screening can be a costly mistake. A new employee’s online presence can directly impact your company’s reputation, and without proper checks, you could be unknowingly bringing risk into your business. 

What could go wrong? 

• Discriminatory or offensive posts surfacing after hiring 
• Public backlash damaging your brand’s credibility 
• Potential lawsuits from inappropriate online behaviour 
• Internal conflict or culture clashes within your team 

That’s why many employers now rely on pre-employment social media checks to flag potential red flags before they become major problems. 

With Access Screening, this process is fully automated, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual checks. The result? A clear, unbiased assessment that gives you confidence in your hiring decisions and protects your business from reputational risk. 

Read more: Guarding your reputation: The impact of background screening on Security businesses 

Social media screening technology takes the guesswork out of pre-employment checks, helping employers make informed hiring decisions quickly and compliantly. With Access Screening, powered by Fama, businesses can automate this process, reducing manual effort while ensuring a thorough review of a candidate’s digital footprint. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Advanced AI technology scans publicly available social media and online sources, identifying potential risks linked to workplace behaviour. 
• AI filters key insights, but human reviewers ensure accuracy and context, so employers receive a fair and unbiased report. 
• Employers get a focused analysis of a candidate’s online presence, flagging critical risk factors based on publicly available data. 

What does the report include? 

A summary of a candidate’s publicly available social media profiles and online activity across 10,000+ online sources, including: 

• X (Twitter) 
• LinkedIn 
• YouTube 
• Pinterest 
• Vimeo 
• Blogger 
• WordPress 
• Gravatar 
• About.me 
• Twitch 
• GitHub 
• SoundCloud 

These findings don’t make the final hiring decision for you—but they equip hiring teams with key insights to make smarter, faster, and more informed choices. 

How social media screening technology flags risks 

Technology-driven social media and adverse media background checks use a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) status to flag potential risks, helping employers quickly assess whether a candidate’s online behaviour aligns with company standards. The RAG system highlights key areas of concern, such as: 

• Red flags (high risk) – Illegal activities, workplace misconduct, hate speech, violent content 
• Amber flags (moderate risk) – Inappropriate or explicit content, potential substance abuse, extreme opinions 
• Green flags (low risk) – No concerning activity detected 

With Access Screening, AI-powered checks automatically identify primary risk factors, providing high-level insights into flagged content. This allows hiring teams to assess potential concerns efficiently, ensuring compliance and mitigating reputational risks. 

Why this matters for your business 

• Protects your brand 
• Maintains workplace harmony 
• Avoids legal and financial risks 
• Safeguards internal reputation  
• Strengthens compliance & due diligence 
• Ensures trust with clients  

1. Define your screening policy by establishing clear guidelines on what you’re looking for, which platforms you’ll check, and how you’ll use the information in hiring decisions. Ensure policies comply with privacy and employment laws. 
2. Manual checks are inefficient and prone to bias. Invest in AI-powered tools that scan publicly available data while maintaining compliance. 
3. Standardise the review process and train your hiring team to interpret results consistently, document findings, and ensure fair decision-making across all candidates. 

Access Screening automates pre-employment checks, helping you hire faster while protecting your business. From social media and adverse media checks to identity, right to work, financial history, and more, get a complete picture of your candidates—before they join your team. 

With over 140 background checks, including DS/DBS, IDVT, and reference checks, you can spot red flags early, reduce hiring risks, and ensure every candidate aligns with your company values.