To post or not to post — that is the question. Or, at least, that is the standoff Paris Campbell and Apple (her employer) find themselves in. Earlier this month, Campbell posted a TikTok responding to another TikTok of a woman who said she lost her iPhone at Coachella and was being extorted to remove the phone from her Apple ID so it could be sold on the black market.

Campbell's response was to not remove the iPhone, because “your phone is actually useless to them, and you’re the only person that can save them [as in, allowing them to actually sell the phone], and I suggest that you don’t.” Shortly thereafter, Campbell's manager called her to say that her video violated Apple's social media protocols and could result in her firing. Rather than remove the video, Campbell instead posted a second video defending her actions. Apple has yet to respond to the new actions, reports The Verge.

• According to internal documents, Apple tells employees “we want you to be yourself, but you should also be respectful in posts, tweets, and other online communications.”

• In her second video, Campbell claims that “after reviewing the social media policies ... nowhere does it say I can’t identify myself as an Apple employee publicly, just that I shouldn’t do so in a way that makes the company look bad,” and that “I don’t just have all this Apple knowledge because I work for Apple. I come to this knowledge because I have a long technical education and history. That’s why they hired me.”

A Policy Of Silence

As Apple Insider details, the iPhone-maker has a strong culture of secrecy. When a popular YouTube personality named Mark Rober joined the company in 2015 to work on an augmented virtual display patent, Apple asked that he cease making videos. He ultimately agreed to delay posting videos by three months but insisted he was allowed to continue his YouTube channel. One year later, Rober was invited onto the Jimmy Kimmel show and was prompted yet again to check with Apple. The request was sent all the way up to the company's number-two-in-command, Dan Riccio, where he wasn’t given an outright no.   

The Verdict

Campbell may have a case that she did not violate company policy, especially if that policy is vague. That being said, she is just one employee against the behemoth that is Apple so the odds are stacked against her.