Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings won't face regulatory sanctions for announcing monthly viewership results on his Facebook page even though the company didn't report the information to in a public filing, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said today.

The SEC refrained from bringing an enforcement action against Hastings or Netflix because of uncertainty about how disclosure requirements pertain to social media, the agency said in a statement. Instead, the agency released a report of its investigation that says companies can use social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to announce key information so long as investors have been told where to look.

"One set of shareholders should not be able to get a jump on other shareholders just because the company is selectively disclosing important information," George Canellos, acting director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement.