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If you're stopping your business (by choice or bankruptcy), are you legally required to delete your social media and blog content?

I'm asking because someone who works for a company that's closing mentioned to me that they are legally required to close and delete all of their company's social media profiles (including blogs, which had valuable content), and I'm skeptical if that can be a legal requirement.

(My example is in the United Kingdom.)

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  • In u.s. It would rely heavily on what type business they are in, whether there was a partnership (the members of whom may want to disassociate), whether or not they are professionally licensed, and if so, whether that regulatory agency delimits that practice. Further, it would be content specific, as if it was, say advertising, it would typically be required by the Secretary of State in the state of incorporation that ad's stop if no longer incorporated. – gracey209 Dec 7 '15 at 17:47
  • I worked for a company heading to bankruptcy. When it was finally liquidated, a competitor paid the creditors for some equipment, and the customer list. With this, they got the web and email domain to redirect customers to themselves, but otherwise did not maintain the brand. The wording of the question doesn't make clear if the direction is coming from a new owner (which could be a competitor) or a government entity. If an owner, it would be their legal right to require takedown of owned marketing content over the objection of current employees. – user662852 Dec 7 '15 at 18:15
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In the UK, you can only stop a running company if you do no business whatsoever for some time; details will be on the Company House website but I'm quite sure it is for more than a year. No business whatsoever.

That means for example that you can't pay a bill to a hosting company for hosting your blog. Someone (for example the company owner privately) would have to put the blogging site in their own name for some time.

On the other hand, if you go bankrupt or sell your business, that blog could be an asset that you would sell.

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(In the USA) They are not. It's a 1st amendment right to have it up.

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  • Thanks for your input, I edited the question to reflect this: this case I'm asking about is in the UK, but good to know how it'd be in the US – Baumr Dec 7 '15 at 15:53
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    Do you have any references to indicate that this is anything other than your opinion? – phoog Dec 7 '15 at 19:59
  • The UK answer has nothing whatsoever to do with free speech rights. It's about having a business relationship with a hosting company that hosts the blog. You can't dissolve a company with existing business relationships. You should really investigate if your answer is actually correct in the USA, because the reason for the UK laws would apply equally in the USA. – gnasher729 Dec 8 '15 at 9:04
  • It's similar to asking "are you allowed to speak when you are dead". Nothing to do with 1st amendment. When you are speaking, you're not dead. When you're dead, you can't speak. – gnasher729 Dec 8 '15 at 9:05

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